Providence Volume I: Induction
by blingblingchristine
Summary: To her, Steve Rogers was Home. Diana Stark, heiress to Stark Industries, has secrets. The kind that will change the way the world sees her forever.
1. Hot and Cold

_Wow. I haven't written anything in at least 2 years, and haven't posted anything on here in that same amount of time, probably even longer. For those that are new to my stories, welcome! For those who have read my work before, hello again! This story has been festering in my brain for several years now, probably since the first Iron Man movie premiered in '08. Don't know why I'm choosing now to finally get working on it, but I feel like I've finally found my passion for writing again. There's at least 70 pages for this story right now, and I work on it every day so there will definitely be more coming out._

 _So! Providence is going to be a saga (I hope) that spans the MCU. It will mostly focus on Iron Man and Captain America (my two favorite characters, with Cap coming in first because I just love him and have since I was a kid and blah blah blah). The first half of this chapter starts in the middle of Iron Man 2 but that will be the only part outside of Captain America/Avengers. Unless I feel like adding flashbacks or side stories. Idk. We'll see._

 _Feel free to leave a review here, or head over to my tumblr page. I'm slowly building that back up for my readers to keep in touch with me there. Anyway I'll stop talking and let you get to reading. Thanks!_

 _Disclaimer: I own nothing from Marvel, I only own Diana..._

* * *

It was hard to keep a secret from him. Dad was always there. Well…not always. At least not physically. Jarvis usually took his place. She liked Jarvis though. And she liked her dad. He was brilliant, funny, easy to be around. But dad never felt like "dad". He was always just her best friend. Some people would frown at her when she told them that.

" _That's not healthy."_ They would say.

" _They should seek counseling."_ They would whisper behind her back.

But they didn't understand. It was completely normal to stay up into the late hours of the night with your father, working on cars and whatever else he felt like tinkering with. It was completely normal to have your dad pull you out of school for a week or two, so he can take you to a conference in Malaysia or Paris or wherever he felt like visiting. It was completely normal to stay in your own room, take care of yourself, get your own food and make sure you got home safely, all on your own.

Then again, maybe it wasn't too normal for a child to know how to book a flight from one country to the next. Or be more than familiar with passing through customs.

But Diana Stark wasn't normal.

At age eight, she graduated high school. At age twelve, she earned her undergraduate. At the ripe age of thirteen, S.H.I.E.L.D contacted her.

She had her first solo mission at age fifteen.

Now _that_ wasn't normal. Even for the super spies that roamed S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters. But Diana knew. She was different. She was stronger, faster, better than almost everyone. She was highly adaptable and a fast learner. By age eighteen she was nearly as expert a marksman as Clint Barton.

And here she is at age twenty. Sitting across the table from her father, Tony Stark AKA Iron Man, completely terrified.

"Agent Howard." Nick Fury, Diana's boss addressed her by her code name. Diana looked up at him casually, but Tony's eyes nearly fell out of his head.

"I-I'm sorry. Howard?"

Diana and Fury ignored him. They both knew what that name meant to the Starks, but neither was ready to address that just yet. "Yes sir?" Diana sat forward, folding her arms on the table top.

"Consider this your vacation. I'll see you at HQ in a week." With that, Fury turned and left the restaurant, Romanoff close behind him. Now the diner was relatively empty save for the single waitress and cook, but they'd decided to hide out in the kitchen. Probably a smart move considering the look Tony was giving Diana now.

A tense silence fell over the father and daughter for a few minutes. Diana couldn't seem to bring her eyes up from the table, while Tony wouldn't stop staring at her. Slowly, he chewed and swallowed his donut. "You," he paused to lift an armored finger and point at her, "are grounded."

That somehow broke the ice between them. Diana scoffed and laughed. "Dad please. I'm a legal adult, you can't ground me."

"Oh yes I can." Tony set down his food and sat up straight. "I'm still your father and you live under my roof. And until you decide to move out, I can ground you whenever I want. So," He leaned his head down to catch her eyes, "you're grounded."

"Dad…"

"Don't "dad" me." Tony waved his hand at her. He was emotional. Diana could see the stress getting to him. Like it wasn't already. He couldn't find a cure for the palladium—neither of them could. Thankfully, Diana had worked with a small team of brilliant scientists at S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters and come up with a temporary fix, but nothing permanent had come from it.

"Alright, Agent Howard." Diana managed to meet his eyes after hearing him say her codename. Probably because it was so strange to hear it coming from him at all. Tony waved his hand around, "How about we start this awkward conversation out with a simple explanation. Why the get-up?"

Diana glanced down at her attire and mentally winced. It was probably pretty jarring to see your only daughter dressed in full combat gear. Normally, her hair was let loose and her makeup was heavy. But today, Diana's hair was pulled up into a high ponytail and her makeup was simple—nearly nonexistent. The entire suit was black and hugged her body tightly. But even though it was a form fitting design, it was built to protect her. Various armor plates were built into the suit, creating a slightly bulkier design than Romanoff's choice. Diana might have to work harder at being quiet on their covert ops, but she had an easier time not worrying about dodging one or two stray bullets. Vibranium was an incredible material to work with after all.

"I think I should start from the beginning." Diana decided to skip the tech talk over her suit—she and Tony could geek out about it later. For now, she thought it best to explain everything to Tony. Why she was sitting there. Why Fury called her "Agent Howard". And most importantly, why she hadn't revealed this to him at all. Diana let out a deep sigh, "You told me about grandpa when I was a kid. And about Steve Rogers."

Tony's dark eyes—the same as her own—were fixated on her. Diana continued, "When I was younger, I dug through your encrypted files and found grandpa's old things."

"So, because of rifling through your gramp's stuff, you decided it would be a great idea to become a spy?" His suit creaked when he let out an indignant laugh, as if he was trying to avoid hearing the truth.

Diana slowly nodded. "That's part of it." She sucked in her lips and prepared herself for this next part. It was always hard to talk about Veronica. "You also told me that mom had a difficult pregnancy. That the first few months, it looked like neither of us would make it. And then one day everything changed. Veronica got better, and so did I. Do you know why that is?"

Tony honestly had no answer for that. He really didn't know. It was hard enough hearing Vera's name being spoken out loud again. The woman that would have changed everything.

Taking his silence as an answer, Diana reached into her pocket and dug out her phone. She scrolled through a few menus, entered in a couple of passwords until she finally stopped at a page. Diana turned the phone around and slid it across the table to Tony. He leaned forward. It was a photocopy of a piece of yellowed paper.

Immediately, Tony recognized Vera's handwriting. He froze and started reading it, line by line.

 _December 6, 1989_

 _Howard and I have agreed. The only way to save my baby is to try the serum. This is…insane. I can't believe I'm agreeing to this. But I must. Tony has been going crazy getting everything ready. He says he wants to get married before our baby is born. He says he wants to try to fix things with his father. For the baby. He wants our baby to grow up with a real family. Tony gave it a nickname today. We've started to call it Beanie._

 _Tony doesn't know about the heart palpitations. I haven't told him about the pain, the cramps, and the bleeding. Last night was the final straw. Thank god Tony had left for MIT. But Howard found me in the kitchen, blood pooling between my legs. Him and Maria rushed me to the hospital. The doctors said it was a fifty-fifty chance that Beanie would survive into the second trimester. I wasn't going to accept that, and neither was Howard._

 _So here we are in his private lab. Maria doesn't know, and neither does Tony. I hope and pray he never finds out. What kind of monster would he think I am? Experimenting with a "super soldier serum" that hasn't been fully tested? And on our child?_

 _I am insane. But I'm going to do anything to save this baby. Even if I must become a monster in the process._

By the time Tony was finished reading he couldn't breathe. His brain was going too fast for his body to really focus on anything else. But it made sense. Vera's sudden change in health, the beyond perfect pregnancy, Diana's talents. He was amazed and infuriated all at once. Amazed to think that the mother of his child would do something like that without even talking to him about it first. Infuriated because she did it and because his own father was a part of it.

"How long have you known?" Tony heard himself ask. Diana sat back, tucking her phone back into her pocket.

"I've always known that I was different. I found the files when I graduated high school."

"And this." He pointed at her suit, "How long has this been going on?"

Diana licked her lips, "Technically I've been in training since I was thirteen. I went on my first mission two years after that."

Tony felt his heart fall into his stomach. Fifteen. She was fifteen years old when Fury sent her out to do god knows what. "But, I kept an eye on you. You were in graduate school; you were always in class or ballet or fencing or whatever you wanted to do that month. I knew where you were at all times."

"Because of the tracker?" Diana couldn't help the grin that crept onto her face. Yes, it was true. She was earning her master's degree and attending lessons for ballet and fencing and "whatever else caught her interest". But that was all a cover. The master's degree was real. The other lessons were not. "Dad, I'm not stupid. I knew you would "keep an eye" on me."

"You rerouted the GPS?"

"No." Diana fought back her smile. She was really enjoying watching her genius dad be stumped. "All of the gyms and studios I attended for my lessons were actually S.H.I.E.L.D facilities. When you thought I was taking ballet classes, I was learning basic self-defense techniques."

Tony sat back, staring. He was shocked. Beyond shocked. His daughter has been lying to him this entire time. He was always so proud of her and her accomplishments. Tony always bragged that his daughter was one of the smartest minds of her generation, that she was a jack of all trades, that she was always searching for something new to learn. In reality, she was just learning how to kill, kill and kill.

"You are definitely grounded missy." Tony couldn't help the anger that boiled up and out of his throat. It just didn't seem right to let her off the hook so easily. Some may say he was being stubborn, but Tony liked to think of it as "firm parenting".

Diana had the nerve to playfully role her eyes. "Dad you can't ground me. I'm twenty one."

"Ah-ah," he pointed an armored finger at her again, "you still live in my house. And even if you didn't live in my house, I would personally lock you up in your own house." He sat forward, making sure to catch her eyes. "Diana do you realize that you've been lying to me and Pepper and Rhodey and everyone else? You do understand that at this point, none of us have any reason to trust you?"

"Okay now you're just being dramatic." Diana glared.

"Maybe so." Tony straightened his back and picked up his half-eaten donut. "But I've had a bit of a day, and I don't want you _out of my sight_ until I fully understand what the hell this all means."

He took a bite from his donut and looked out the window effectively ending the entire conversation. Diana folded her hands together on top of the table and let out a quiet sigh. She had an aching suspicion that this week-long vacation wasn't going to really feel like a vacation.

* * *

 ** _January 15, 2012_**

Typically, Diana genuinely enjoyed cold weather. Having grown up in southern California, she didn't get to see snow very often. So whenever she got the chance to be in a cooler climate, she gladly took it. The arctic however, was completely different. Here the cold physically hurt. The winds were so strong they sucked the air right out of her lungs whenever she stepped outside. Her cheeks burned from the harsh, biting winds and she was sure her feet would be numb for several days after she got back from this frozen wasteland. Diana tucked her chin into her scarf and glanced out the small window next to her. The snow cat she'd been traveling in had a terrible heater. But they were almost to the location. Diana hoped it wouldn't be a lost cause.

"We're here ma'am." The agent driving her to the coordinates pulled to a stop. Diana rubbed at her heavy eyelids before turning to exit the vehicle.

"Get the search team to the deck. I want to know why they're bringing us out here." She looked out the window one last time, the ice caps shrouded in shadows. Diana let out a slow breath, trying to calm her excitement. She didn't want to get her hopes up.

Diana checked her watch, it was nearly dawn. The sun would not be making an appearance unfortunately. If only they'd found this later in the year, Diana grimaced as she finally pushed open the door. She braced herself against the freezing winds, moving towards the agent who had driven her to the site. He was currently arguing with the leader of the dig team.

"You don't understand," he shouted over the wind, "you guys are gonna need one hell of a crane!" Diana felt her stomach flip. Could it really be? She followed where the dig team leader was pointing and felt her mouth fall open.

It was the plane. It had to be. She could see half of a wing sticking out of the ice and from the size of it, that was only a sliver of the entire thing. By her guess, everyone was currently standing right on top of the left wing. Diana could make out the massive shadow of the plane under the ice.

"Get our boys down here!" Diana called back to her subordinate. "Bring the drilling equipment!" She adjusted her hood and wool hat, spotting men in orange jackets milling about around the plane. As helpful as they were being, they couldn't know what or who could be down there. "Keep these men as far away from the interior as possible. I don't want any of this getting leaked, understood?"

The subordinate set off to do his job while Diana began to search for the right spot to begin the excavation. Before long, the dig team had arrived and a man-sized hole had been cut through the top of the ice allowing entry. The S.H.I.E.L.D science team had set up a sort of base camp inside several different portables to keep out of the strong, icy winds. Diana was the first to be sent down into the interior.

"Don't send down anyone else until I say." She ordered before dropping down, not waiting for a response. To most S.H.I.E.L.D agents, she was known as the Ice Queen. Agent Diana Howard was quiet and precise, always successful on her missions but never truly warm to other agents. Which of course wasn't true. She just needed to keep people at a distance. Most everyone recognized her immediately. The Stark heiress was hard to forget. Thankfully no one had said anything to her or leaked her true day-job to the press. Diana always had a sneaking suspicion Fury had something to do with that.

" _Agent Howard, do you copy?_ " One of the science officers was checking to make sure her radio was still working. Diana lowered down a bit more,

"I copy." She answered, gently easing the harness around her waist and carefully lowering to the plane's surface. Diana came to a slow halt, her heavily booted feet clomping onto the interior of the plane. "Base—I'm in." She breathed, her helmet providing both oxygen and protection from the even harsher cold below the ice. Diana unhooked her harness and whipped out her flashlight, clicking it on and sweeping it over the plane. The place was dead. Everything was covered in ice from the floor to the ceiling. She shined her light upwards, noticed a few scattered icicles and frowned. She'd have to be mindful of those. Slowly, Diana made her way further in, hearing radio chatter in her helmet's built in speakers. She could hear her own breath as she carefully placed one foot in front of the other. Ice blanketed in thick sheets over every surface, and hardly any spot was safe to walk on.

She swept her flashlight towards the front of the plane where she saw what looked like a helm and the pilot's chair. It was centered on a now destroyed console, a large viewing window shattered long ago sitting in place of the nose of the plane. Diana picked up her pace feeling her heart rate pick up with it. Could it be? She walked towards the helm, her flashlight glinting over something metallic and…red. Ignoring the ice beneath her feet, Diana jogged the rest of the way towards the chair, falling to her knees in the snow and ice. Her breathing was heavy from anticipation. Please, please, please.

Diana reached out a shaking hand, sweeping away the gathered snow before falling back on her haunches. "Base," a smile formed on her lips, "get Fury on the line."

" _But ma'am it's…three in the morning in New York._ "

"I don't care." Diana leaned forward again and swept away more snow revealing the red, white and blue shield beneath the ice. "Tell Fury we found him. We found the Captain."

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 _Review, fav and follow! Thank you so much for reading!_


	2. Secrets Secrets Are No Fun

_Hello again! How is your weekend going? I'm nursing a very bad hangover due to very poor decisions today but somehow managed to finish up rewriting the final scene in this chapter. Props to my writing skills I guess haha. Thank you to everyone who favorited/followed the story! It's always exciting to see my work pay off._

 _ZabuzasGirl_ _thank you so much for the review! To answer your question, I'm not too sure if I'll ever have a third installment to my Star Trek series. The last movie wasn't my favorite, and I honestly have no idea what I should do with Lara! Sometimes I think about bringing her back to the good side, but other times I really like having a villain character and writing for them. Villains have always been more fun to me. Then again, maybe she'll evolve into a sort of anti-hero character which would be 1000x better because anti-heroes hold a special place in my heart. Who knows, maybe I'll find inspiration soon. We'll see!_

 _So I really, really hope I got Steve's character right. I go back and forth a lot with what he should or shouldn't say. And I'm still trying to get a feel for Diana as well. But I'll stop talking and let you get to the good stuff!_

 _Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Marvel...I only own Diana..._

* * *

It took every ounce of her willpower not to freak out. Not only had they found Captain America's body—he was alive! Somehow by some miracle, Captain America was alive beneath all that ice. In fact, it was probably the ice that ultimately saved him. S.H.I.E.L.D had managed to pull him out and transferred him back to New York where he was currently being slowly thawed. Diana stood next to the sleeping form of Steve Rogers, Captain America. He was in a heavily induced coma while doctors slowly brought his body temperature back to normal.

"How much longer until he wakes up?" Diana asked, looking across the bed towards her former SO, Agent Phil Coulson who just happened to be a bigger fan of the Captain than she was.

"Pretty soon. We'll have to move him tonight and prepare. I overheard a few doctors say that it's possible he could wake up tomorrow morning." Coulson answered, hands deep in his pockets. The room was being kept at a low thirty-eight degrees Fahrenheit. Phil continued, "The doctors were saying that his recovery time is remarkable. Then again, it's remarkable that he's even alive."

Diana smirked and looked back down at Steve Rogers. "Yeah. Remarkable." From what she read about Steven Grant Rogers, he was more than just remarkable. He was...a miracle. And he was the first super soldier. Diana's hands balled into fists. She had so many questions. Did he know what was in Erksine's formula? Did he know why it changed him? Would he remember her grandfather, Howard Stark? Would he be able to help her piece together what little information she had on Erksine's procedure, and finally figure out what made her the way she was?

Did he also have no reaction to alcohol?

"You want answers." Phil could read her pretty well, having known her since she was just a kid.

"Of course, I do." Diana crossed her arms, trying not to get her hopes up. She knew the basic equipment used to create the reaction that made Captain Rogers who he is now, but she didn't know what was in that damned serum. She also knew that her grandfather had synthesized a serum from Rogers' blood, and then used that serum on her when she was still in her mother's womb. But she didn't understand what _made_ them. What was the secret ingredient?

Diana sighed, staring down at Captain Rogers' relaxed face. She didn't want to think about it too much. Usually when she did, she would start spiraling and give herself a headache. Diana lifted her hand, fingers falling to a stray piece of the Captain's blonde hair. She moved it aside, fixing his hair into a perfect coif. "How do you think he'll handle the news?" The tip of her finger fell across his cold cheek, and she ignored what she thought was a twitch in the muscle under there.

"Finding out that he's been frozen for seventy years and that everyone he knew is probably dead?" Phil shrugged, "He might do alright." Diana rolled her eyes at Coulson's dry humor. Honestly, she wasn't so sure. Maybe when he woke up they could tell him—albeit slowly. But she didn't think hiding the truth would be the best of ideas. Phil opened his mouth to speak again but was interrupted when his phone started buzzing in his pocket. He glanced down at it, "I've got to take this. Let me know if anything changes." Phil pointed down to the Captain before leaving the room, phone pressed to his ear. She wondered what exactly could be going on that had Coulson on pins and needles. It might have something to do with the Mandarin bombings. They were becoming more and more frequent lately, and S.H.I.E.L.D was getting concerned.

With Phil gone, Diana was left alone with the Captain. He still wore his uniform; his body was still too frozen to risk pulling it off. Maybe in the next day or two they'd be able to get him into something more comfortable. Carefully, Diana sat on the edge of the hospital bed near Rogers' legs. The heart rate monitor was going steady like always, and in the silence, it was almost comforting. She watched him for a minute before sighing.

"You know, we've been searching for you—for a long time." Diana felt like she was speaking to herself. But she'd read studies and articles about people in coma's being able to hear other's speaking to them. Maybe he could hear her. Diana continued, "Everything will be…different when you wake up."

The Captain's only answer was to continue breathing.

"It's funny," she watched his eyes move back and forth rapidly behind their lids, "with all the movies and posters and comics, I expected you to be taller."

His face twitched. Diana saw it and continued talking. Maybe it was helping. "You look good though. I can see why all the girls swooned at the sight of you." Diana snickered to herself, "I'd expect nothing less from Captain America."

Diana smiled at him, not noticing his left finger twitch. Her smile quickly faded, however, when she heard a swift knock on the door behind her. She stood to attention with her hands folded behind her back.

Without much flair or drama, Nick Fury came into the room, dressed in his typical black uniform. "Agent Howard. Are you going to watch him all night?"

"Wasn't planning on it sir." She answered and fell to an easy stance when Nick nodded at her.

Fury moved to stand next to her, watching the Captain's eyes move rapidly. "I need you to get home, get some rest."

Diana's brow creased, she looked up from Rogers to Fury. "Sir?"

He turned to face her. "We're moving him tonight. Doctors are saying he could wake up any day now and we need to be ready."

"Director Fury, his body isn't completely thawed. If you move him to a lower temperature you could cause massive organ failure." Diana suddenly felt like she needed to protect Rogers at all costs.

"We're moving him to a secure room at HQ. Temperature will be regulated and gradually raised." Fury explained, walking to the end of the bed and picking up the charts of Rogers' progress. "He's coming to faster than I expected. The Council agrees we need to prepare to break the news to him gently."

Diana gave him an incredulous look. "Sir, lying to Captain Rogers about his situation will do nothing. He's too damn smart to fall for anything but the truth."

Fury held up a hand. "I realize you are our resident expert on all things involving Captain America, but The Council has made their decision. As have I."

That effectively silenced the agent. She clenched her jaw and let out one final, hard breath. "Understood, sir. What are your orders?"

"Tomorrow morning you will debrief a team and prepare your procedure. Oh-six-hundred. Don't be late." Fury replaced the chart and watched Rogers. "I got a feeling he's going to wake up sooner then we can anticipate."

* * *

Diana had come in the next morning and briefed the team on what to expect and the protocol to follow when Rogers finally woke up. Per order of The Council, Diana formulated a plan that would break things to the Captain slowly. What she didn't like, was the red tape keeping her in check. They wanted him to be in an isolated room that was dressed to look like a hospital from the mid 1940's. Diana reluctantly complied, dressing a female agent in a uniform from the same era.

Diana requested a radio in the room and that a broadcast be played. She didn't specify which broadcast, hoping her agents would choose something appropriate. The room was all set. It was a small, steel box placed in the middle of an empty room. The room had previously been used as a training facility, but Diana claimed it for the next few days for The Councils brilliant plan.

It took a full two days to set up and prepare the procedure. The Captain decided to wake up on the third.

Diana watched Steve Rogers sleep soundly on the fake hospital bed. His vitals showed he would come to within the hour. Now everyone waited with bated breath for the moment they'd been preparing for. Diana chewed her lip and took one last overview of the "hospital". The room had been dressed very well. It looked authentic and the pictures outside the fake windows were pretty much convincing.

"Ma'am." A tech engineer got her attention, pointing to the large screen in front of them. Rogers had opened his eyes and was starting to sit up in his bed.

"Alright, he's up people." Diana pressed the small headset further into her ear, ignoring the shock that came over her. He really did recover fast. "Agent Blair, that's your cue."

The agent—a young brunette still in training—had been personally selected for this by Fury himself. At first Diana wasn't too sure why he'd chosen a trainee. But when she saw the agent dressed in her 1940's uniform it had clicked. That agent now held a suspicious resemblance to Peggy Carter.

"Bring up her camera on the screen." Diana's hands fell to her hips as two videos now occupied the monitor. On the left, she could see a full view of the room. On the right, she saw a view from the agent's perspective through a small lens in her tie clip.

" _Morning_." Agent Blair greeted him as she came into the room. She "checked her watch" before smiling sweetly at the Captain, " _Or should I say afternoon_." Diana glanced at a computer screen nearby. The watch on the agent's wrist was a live monitoring device that kept tabs on Captain Rogers' heartbeat and breathing rate.

" _Where am I?_ " Rogers asked, already suspicious. He was still on the bed, sitting just on the edge and tensed up like he was prepared to fight at any second.

"Oh, that's not good." Diana mumbled to herself. She pressed her headset, "Be ready by the door, I want two men on each side. Do not enter unless ordered." She heard a swift "yes ma'am" on the other end before returning her attention to the live feed.

Agent Blair faltered for a half second but quickly recovered. " _You're in a recovery room in New York City._ "

It looked like Rogers almost bought it—almost. He paused, eyeing the girl in front of him carefully and cautiously. "What are you thinking Cap?" Diana mumbled again, watching his eyes move from one side of the room to the other.

" _Where am I really?_ " He asked again. Diana heard Agent Blair's quick exhale of breath as she tried to laugh off his behavior.

" _I'm afraid I don't understand._ " The agent tried to feign ignorance, but Diana could tell Rogers wasn't buying any second of it.

" _The game_ ," his eyes danced to the radio across the room, " _it's from May 1941—I know cause I was there._ "

"Shit." Diana cursed. How could she have missed that? She pressed her headset again, "Team be ready. Enter at Blair's order." She was going to let the younger agent determine whether or not she could handle the situation on her own. Diana knew Rogers wouldn't hurt the girl, but she was hoping that by giving Blair command of the team used to subdue Rogers, it would calm her down a bit. Diana turned around and grabbed the microphone that connected directly to Blair's earpiece, "Blair you've got command of the subdue team. You bring them in on your discretion."

Diana knew the girl couldn't acknowledge her, but she hoped that Blair felt a little bit more confident now. Setting down the microphone, Diana looked back at the monitor and watched Rogers slowly stand up from his bed. He towered over the agent, and even though he wasn't trying to be intimidating, his height and build certainly made up for it.

" _Now I'm going to ask you again._ " Rogers walked towards her, bending down slightly to meet her at eye level. " _Where am I?_ "

"Blair just pressed her panic button." An analyst nearby stated. Diana kept her eyes focused on the screen.

" _Captain Rogers…_ " Blair tried to keep both herself and Rogers calm, but the Captain wouldn't have it.

" _Who are you!_ " He demanded, raising his voice just high enough. Only he wouldn't get his answer. The team of men ordered to subdue the Captain came into the room. Except…that wasn't the whole team.

"Why are there only two men?! Where are the others?!" Diana shouted into her headset. But her only answer was static. "What the hell just happened?!" She demanded, looking to the analysts for help. They only had confused looks on their faces. Diana rolled here eyes. Of all the days and of all the missions to have a technical failure, the one where she needed to protect her men from Captain America had to be it.

Diana looked back to the live video and saw Rogers tense up, stepping back from the two heavily armed men who'd entered the room. The word "subdue" failed to apply to anything they tried to do. In fact, they would best be described as punching bags. Captain Rogers let them come to him, and when the men tried to get their arms around the Captain, he'd used their weight and momentum to throw them into the opposite wall. Diana quickly found the live feed of the empty training room and saw the two agents on the floor covered in plywood and steel. Captain Rogers jumped out of the fake hospital room and bolted.

"Son of a…" Diana turned and ran out of the situation room, pressing her headset. "All agents, code thirteen!" She burst through the door and ran down the halls hearing her own voice over the mass intercom system of the S.H.I.E.L.D New York HQ. "All agents, code thirteen!"

It didn't take her long to get to the main lobby—the New York office was much smaller than the D.C. office. Diana turned a corner and spotted the Captain bursting through the gathered crowd of agents trying to stop him. "Captain Rogers!" Diana called out to him, making a beeline in his direction.

Steve heard his name and looked for the source. He found a woman with tan skin and dark hair in a black, heavily armored uniform running at him. Her combat boots looked heavy, but she moved with a speed he'd never seen before. Steve didn't stick around to watch her any longer and turned to find the exit.

Diana saw him make for the exit and moved to intercept him. She pumped her legs hard to catch up to his longer stride. "Captain!" She called again and he glanced over his shoulder at her.

She was closer than he'd realized. He stopped and looked for something to get her away from him. He didn't want to fight anyone, he just wanted to get away from whatever the hell this place was. He turned and grabbed the first thing he saw—a silver trash bin—and chucked it towards the woman running at him.

Diana saw him throw the trash can and had to duck down, skidding on her knees to avoid the flying silver bin. It sailed over her head and clattered to the floor behind her. When Diana looked back up, she saw Rogers running across the street. "Shit!" Diana cursed got up from the floor, sprinting after the Captain. She heard several agents follow behind her.

Diana rushed through the doors. "Rogers!" She called after him, but he either didn't hear her or wouldn't stop for her. Diana let out an annoyed sigh, quickly sprinting after the Captain. She heard radio chatter over her headset. Fury's voice eventually coming through the static.

" _Agent Howard are you in pursuit?_ "

"Yes sir!" She shouted over the noisy cars, quickly catching up to the Captain. He rounded the block towards Times Square, Diana close behind him. She picked up her pace, "Converge on my location. I've got him."

Steve came to a slow halt in the middle of Times Square. Diana ran up to him, coming to a halt several feet away. He saw her and tensed up, falling into a sharp fighting stance. Diana held up her hands, "Calm down Captain, I'm not here to fight you."

"Who the hell are you? What's going on?" He demanded, stepping back when he saw three black cars pull up behind the woman. She kept her hands up, palms facing towards him in a sign of peace.

"My name is Diana Howard. I'm only here to help, you can trust me."

Steve watched her, never lowering his fists. Her armor and sidearm didn't look much like 'help' to him. "And how do I know I can trust you? You still haven't told me who you people are."

"At ease soldier!" Nick Fury had stepped out past the cars and agents. Rogers turned around to find the source of the new voice, fists falling to his sides though he never relaxed his stance. Diana slowly walked around to stand closer to Fury. She spotted other agents holding back a gawking crowd and made a mental note to get people started on erasing this whole incident from the internet. Fury glanced at Diana. He knew she wanted to say it. I told you so.

Fury looked back at the Captain. "Look, I'm sorry about that little show back there but…we thought it best to break it to you slowly."

Rogers, still slightly winded from his sprint, glanced between Fury and Diana. "Break what?" His patience had obviously worn out.

"You've…been asleep Captain." Diana answered him. Not sure if he would faint when she told him, but she could tell he was fed up with the games. Diana decided to be frank with him. "You've been asleep for almost seventy years."

It looked like she'd just destroyed his entire world. And she essentially had, hadn't she? Diana watched Captain Rogers' mouth fall open, watched his eyes go wide. His breathing turned shallow, and he almost fell back for a second. Rogers started to really look at his surroundings, seeming to take it all in for the first time. Concerned, Diana took a step towards him, "You going to be okay?"

"Yeah," Rogers answered, staring off at nothing, "I just…I had a date."

* * *

Late. Again.

Diana came to a slow stop on her treadmill, sweat dripping down her neck and chest. Steve was supposed to meet her in the gym ten minutes ago. She expected Captain freaking America to be more prompt. This was the fourth time this week he'd shown up late to their training session.

She got off the treadmill and wiped the sweat from her chest. It irritated her beyond reason that he did this. She made sure the entire gym was kept empty for three hours each morning just so they wouldn't have any gawkers. They were to meet at 7 o'clock sharp, bright and early. Steve had agreed when she first proposed this idea. In order to get him out of the dormitory he so graciously accepted from S.H.I.E.L.D and to keep his mind focused. Diana had a sneaking suspicion something was bothering him. Steve hadn't really gotten around to opening up to her yet.

But he only woke up three weeks ago. She had to give him time.

But showing up late to a pre-planned training session?

Diana knew she was being picky. But promptness was kind of her thing. Without it, she'd not be who or where she was today.

She peeled off her sweat drenched t-shirt, leaving her in only a sports bra. Diana walked over to a nearby bench where her water sat. She picked up the bottle, a blue "Stark Industries" logo reflecting off it's metallic surface. Diana took a large gulp, paused, then took another. She could easily workout on her own without Rogers. She just would skip the sparring ring today. Maybe she could throw in an extra run on the treadmill…

The gym doors came open, Steve Rogers stepping inside. He wore simple attire. A pair of khaki sweats and a white t-shirt on top. Diana dropped her towel on the bench followed by her water bottle. She bent over, retied her left shoe and stood back up straight.

When she did, Rogers had made it to the bench next to hers. He sat down on it silently avoiding eye contact with her. Diana rolled her eyes.

"You don't have to act so ashamed." She put her hands to her hips and watched him stretch out his arms. He didn't say anything to her. Hell, he barely even looked at her. Diana sucked in her lip, trying not to get angry. There had to be a reason for him being late all week. Rogers just stubbornly refused to speak to her about it—about hardly anything.

Diana shook her head but refused to give up. He would talk to her eventually. Steve always seemed to get in this sort of mood in the mornings. Maybe he didn't like training that much. Maybe he just wasn't a morning person.

"Do you need to warm up or are you ready to go?" Diana stood in front of him. What she failed to notice, was Steve trying to keep his eyes off her. She didn't have a shirt on first of all, and second, he could see the muscles on her stomach and shoulders and arms. She was in very good shape, incredibly good. But Steve had walked into the gym expecting his sparring partner to wear something other than…that.

"Sports bra" is what she called it. Came out in the seventies. Steve could understand why they were invented. But did she have to wear just that on top? It was hard to look away from Diana's body even when she had clothes on. He may be old, but he was still a man after all.

Steve stood up, his eyes falling to her bare, sweaty legs. Her shorts were also dangerously short.

"No-no." Steve walked away from her towards the treadmills. "I mean," he turned around, "yes I need to warm up. Give me ten minutes."

Diana watched him move to a machine, hand swiping through his short blond hair. Was he…flustered? From what? He started up on a slow jog that quickly turned into a rapid sprint. Diana ignored what her brain told her was the reason for Steve's floundering. It was not because of her. It couldn't be. For as long as she'd known him—which really wasn't even more than a month—he had shown zero signs of finding her even remotely attractive. At first Diana was a little offended by it. But she'd come to accept that she just wasn't Rogers' type. It's not like she planned to date the guy anytime soon.

After ten minutes, Steve came off the treadmill covered in a light layer of sweat. He was breathing hard but not panting. Diana dropped her weights when she saw Steve reach into his bag and pull out the tape. She dug through her own bag and found her hand wrappings. Silently, they wrapped their own fists tightly. When she was done, Diana took out a mouth piece and a pair of gloves. They were small and open-fingered. Ideal for the type of sparring her and Steve would be doing.

Without a word, Diana moved to the sparring mat in the center of the room. She jogged a few laps around the mat, shaking her arms and rolling her neck back and forth. Steve soon joined her, copying her moves and warming up his muscles.

She stopped and pulled out her mouthpiece. "First one to tap out owes the other a coffee."

Steve's brow creased, and he took out his own mouthpiece. "What are we placing bets now?" Diana shrugged, a grin on her face. Steve felt a smile slowly form on his lips. "Okay Howard. You're on."

For a moment, Diana felt thrilled. That was the first genuine smile she'd seen on Steve's face since he woke up. All the other times had been polite, half-smiles that never fully touched his eyes. But today she had gotten lucky. That, or she was finally starting to chip away at the wall between her and Steve.

She decided to think about it later. Diana fell into a loose fighting stance, bouncing from foot to foot. Steve copied her movements. They circled each other for a moment before Diana made the first move. She pushed off her back leg, jumping through the air with her fist raised. As she fell, Steve raised his hands and grabbed her arms. Diana felt him swing her around and she used the momentum to wrap her legs around his neck from behind. She squeezed his neck, trying to pull him backwards and off balance. Steve grunted, reached up a hand to grab hold of the back of her neck and tumbled forward.

Diana rolled off him, catching herself before she fell too far away. When she leaned up on her arms, she saw Steve on his hands and knees. Steve spit out his mouth guard, annoyed at the plastic constantly sitting on his tongue. "That was a new one." He panted while he slowly stood up.

She grinned and pulled out her mouth guard, thought about it, then tossed it aside. They had an unwritten rule to avoid punches to the face anyway.

"I think I've been going too easy on you Rogers." Diana stood up swiping away at invisible dirt on her knees. "You need to learn a lot of new things. New fighting styles fall under that category."

"And what would," he gestured to her and the mat, "that be called?"

"Experience." Diana smirked before explaining. "I'm strong, but I'm not always strong enough." That was a bare faced lie. She was more than strong enough. If she wanted, she could probably lift Rogers over her shoulder right that minute. She continued, "Sometimes I have to use my opponents own body against them."

"Well, it probably helps that you're so small." They moved back to the center of the mat.

Diana held up a finger. "That's "petite" to you sir." They faced each other, and Diana saw another smirk on Steve's face. Okay, this was going a lot better then normal. "Why don't I show you how to get your enemy on their back?"

"Is that what you were trying to do before?" Steve shook his arms and rolled his neck.

"Actually, I was trying to flip you over." Diana rolled her wrists. "You're just a lot better than I expected."

Steve ignored the swell of pride he felt when she complimented him. It was always nice to have anything you work hard at be praised. And Diana was a very good sparring partner. He was happy to impress her. "Can I ask why you want to show me this?"

There was a dirty, filthy part of her mind that immediately thought, "because I want to be on top of you", but Diana instantly pushed that thought to the far, far corners of her brain.

"Because," Diana walked up in front of him, "this move is from a style you don't know yet."

Steve ignored the scent of her shampoo. "What style is that?"

"Jiu jitsu." She answered, spreading her legs and getting into a readied stance. "Okay, this is called a Tomoe Nage." She grabbed his wrists and held them to his chest, standing back about a leg's length away. Diana looked up at him, "I'm going to flip you over my head, but I'll be gentle. Just don't tense up and be sure roll onto your back."

A blond eyebrow lifted. "You sure you can toss me over your head?"

Diana's only answer was a smirk. Oh, if he only knew. She held his wrists tight then jumped up. Her right foot planted into his hip and she pushed and pulled simultaneously. Steve let out a quick yelp. He barely had time to register what was happening before he felt his back hit the floor. Diana, still with a hold on his wrists, landed on top of Steve.

"Woah." Steve's eyes were wide. "What the hell did you just do?"

Diana couldn't help but laugh. His face was priceless. "I flipped you." She released his wrists and sat up, hands falling to her sides.

Steve leaned up on his elbows, watching her smug grin. "Where did you learn that?"

"A coworker who happens to be the best hand-to-hand fighter I've ever met." Diana relaxed on her haunches and froze. If she sat down anymore, even and inch, she would be sitting on his lap. It was then that she realized the compromising position they were in.

"Okay then." He laid back down, "How do I get out of this?" Diana fought back a blush. He was either too innocent, or too focused on learning a new technique to realize how compromising their position was.

 _You're just his trainer. You're just teaching him something._

Diana repeated this mantra in her head. "Right," she took in a shaky breath, "from here you can get out a few different ways. But I'll teach you the easiest." She tapped one of his legs. "Use this leg to knock me forward."

Steve followed where her hand fell and kicked up his left leg. It bumped into the back of her thigh, pushing her forward. Diana caught herself from falling on top of him, her hands landing by his head.

"And from here?" Steve seemed eager to learn and Diana appreciated him not making it anymore awkward then she already was in her head.

She showed him how to trap her foot with his own. He was a fast learner and they repeated the first two moves to be sure he got them. "Okay." Diana had worked up a sweat. She forgot how tiring Jiu jistu could be. "Now lift your hips and turn whichever way you want to roll. While you do that take hold of my wrist and my elbow. If you push against my elbow it'll fold, and you'll be able to take control." He grabbed her wrist with one hand and she put his other against the inside of her elbow.

Diana felt like a proud teacher and grinned down at Steve. "Okay good. Ready to try the whole thing?"

He nodded, and Diana sat back up. They repeated the first half smoothly. Steve's leg firmly bounced into the back of her thigh and she fell over like before. Now Steve grabbed hold of her wrist and elbow, pushing back while he locked her foot against his leg. He lifted his hips and turned.

Diana let out a surprised scream, not having been on the receiving end of his strength yet and felt her back fall against the mat.

"Are you alright?" Steve panted, sweat dripping down his neck.

All she could do was laugh. "You're stronger than I thought." Diana laughed a little longer before assessing his hold on her. He had both of her wrists in his hands, her foot still wrapped up with his leg. Diana gave him a nod of approval. "Good job Rogers. You'll be a master soon."

Steve felt her shift her hips against him and suddenly, he wanted to run away. Why hadn't he noticed it before? Her legs were wrapped around his waist, one foot hanging loosely against his back while he still had a hold of her other foot. It wasn't until now he truly noticed how thin the material of her shorts was. Or how thin his sweats were.

Diana could feel the skin of her thighs brush against the exposed skin of his stomach. A chill ran up her back and she cleared her throat. "Right." Her leg fell limp and Steve's hold on her quickly fell away. He must have realized the compromising position they were in as well. He quickly stood up and backed away, thought about it and then came back to offer her a hand.

Quietly, Diana took his hand and let him pull her to a standing position. When their eyes met, he quickly dropped their hands and backed away. Steve rubbed the back of his neck. "I need to practice."

Her stomach flipped. "Practice what?"

"Punching!" Steve's hands fell to his hips and he looked away from her towards the punching bags. He pointed to them. "I need to practice punching. So, I'm going to…yeah."

With that he turned and left. He knew she would follow, she usually used their training sessions as a way to quiz him. Diana did follow but reluctantly. She didn't know why things were suddenly getting so awkward. It might have something to do with how he looked at her when he had Diana on her back.

That sounded wrong.

Diana shook herself and made her way to the punching bags. Steve had already begun his routine. She stood against the back of the bag and held it in place. The air was still tense between them. Diana wanted to say something. Tell him that it was okay to be feeling anything because she understood being lonely. But that would just come off like she was feeling something too. Which she was. But she didn't want Steve to know. Besides she was still pretty sure he was pinning for Peggy Carter.

In fact, that was still a rumor among S.H.I.E.L.D agents. No one really knew for sure if there had been something between them. Out of all the interviews and reports she filed, Peggy Carter never mentioned having any sort of relationship beyond a professional one with the Captain. But there was something not everyone knew about.

"You know, I studied you." Diana suddenly said aloud, making Rogers stop mid-swing. He gave her a confused and concerned stare.

"Studied me?"

Diana shrugged. "You're kind of a big deal. Anyone with a mild interest in American history has a hard time avoiding reading anything about you. It's kind of a given."

Steve resumed his punches, though they were less intense then before. He was curious where this line of dialogue would take them. "Well what did you find out?"

"A lot. Basically everything." Diana smirked, "I think it's ironic that your birthday is July fourth. But in a cute way."

All Steve did to answer that was give her another concerned stare.

Diana chuckled. "Sorry. It just suits you. But there is one thing I've always been curious about, and I've never been able to find the answer."

"About me?" He caught her nod before continuing, "Well, I'm here now. Ask away."

"What was Peggy Carter to you?"

The question was a deadpan. It made Steve freeze, his heart suddenly picking up pace. Slowly, his eyes met hers. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Diana rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on Rogers. It's okay if you two had something. She never confirmed it and there have been rumors going around for decades. I figure now that I have you here, might as well ask."

Steve's hands fell to his sides. "Diana, that's not a very appropriate question."

"Well that just means that the rumors are true." She watched his jaw clench. "Don't get me wrong, I'm not accusing you of anything. She's always spoken highly of you. I could always tell she cared. A lot."

"Is she…?" He was breathing hard. From the workout or his nerves, he couldn't quite tell anymore. Steve found it suddenly very hard to look Diana in the eye. "Is Peggy…"

"She's alive." Diana's voice was quiet and gentle. "She retired-reluctantly-several years ago. But she's one of the main reasons while S.H.I.E.L.D even exists. Her and my grand—Howard Stark. They built this entire organization from the ground up."

Steve didn't miss her slip up. As nice as it was to hear about Peggy, he couldn't ignore that. "Howard Stark? Who is he to you?" He felt like flipping the tables on her.

Diana stood back from the punching bag. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sure. Who is he to you?" Steve asked again, pushing the subject. "You know, I've been curious about your name. Don't think I've ever heard it before."

"It's just an uncommon name." Diana shrugged and started to walk away. She peeled off her gloves but could feel Rogers chasing after her.

"It kind of sounds like a cover to me." Steve was honestly getting tired of Diana asking all the questions. He caught up to her, catching her arm and making her stop. "You want me to join S.H.I.E.L.D right?"

That question caught her off guard. Diana stuttered. "I-It's not up to me. If Fury wants you then…"

"I'm not asking Fury. I'm asking you." He bent his neck down to meet her eyes. "Do you want me to be a part of S.H.I.E.L.D?"

She didn't know how to say that she was honestly finding herself becoming attached to him and used to having him around. All she could manage was a small, "…yeah…"

"Then I need to not be kept in the dark." Steve kept her eyes locked with his. "You're the first person to even mention Peggy to me since I've woken up. I don't even know what happened to my other friends—it's like everyone is afraid to tell me the truth." His hand hadn't let go of her arm yet. He fingers eagerly squeezed around it. "Diana, I want to trust you. I want your help. But I can't accept that until I know who you really are. No more games, please."

He had a right to be feeling this way. Diana and Fury were the only two S.H.I.E.L.D personnel he had truly spoken to since waking up. Everyone else seemed to avoid him or stare. No one seemed to have the guts to talk to Steve. And she was guilty of it too. She'd been avoiding telling him the truth about a lot of things. Maybe now she could finally start letting him in on a few secrets.

"Howard Stark is my grandfather." She blurted it out, like ripping off a band aid. Diana really had no idea how Steve would react. She expected him to call her a liar, to stop talking to her, to request a new liaison and a new trainer. She honestly expected the worst.

What she got however…

"Huh." Was not what she was expecting. Steve stood up straight, eyes falling over her features, taking them in in a different light. "I never took Howard for a family man."

Diana snorted. "Well according to my dad, he wasn't the best at it." She felt his hand fall away from her arm. "My real name is Diana Stark. My dad is Tony Stark. You've probably heard his name here or there."

Steve let out an indignant snort. "Almost everywhere I look. He seems to like the spotlight." Though he noticed that she failed to mention anything about her mother.

"That's putting it mildly." Diana chuckled with him. She could feel a weight being lifted from her shoulders. That was one major secret out in the open. Now all she had to do was work up the courage to tell him her other one. Not today though. She didn't think Steve would take it too well.

She let out a short breath, hands falling to her hips. "You mentioned your friends. The Hollowing Commandos." At the sound of the name, Steve perked up. "How about after a much-needed shower, I take you down to the archives. I'll let you see everything you want to see. You deserve to know what happened to them."

Steve's shoulders relaxed. "Thank you, Diana. And, maybe you can tell me what it's like to grow up as a Stark. There's got to be some interesting stories."

They started to walk towards their bags, gloves and hand wraps slowly coming off. "Oh, I've got plenty to keep you entertained. Remind me to tell you about my college graduation party."

"I get the feeling there was a lot of alcohol involved."

"Well," she picked up her bag and swung it over her shoulder, "I was only twelve years old, but I don't think I'll ever see that much booze in one place ever again."

"Wait, wait, wait. You graduated college when you were twelve?!"

* * *

 _Review, fav and follow! Thanks for reading!_


	3. Nighty Night

_So I forgot to include dates for each chapter! I'll just say now that I headcannon Steve waking up near the beginning of February. Last chapter's training scene took place near the end of February/beginning of March. I hope the timeline doesn't confuse anyone!_

 _Also, I am so happy to have you all here! I'll admit that I was extremely nervous to start posting again, but after seeing the response I'm so glad I did! This chapter is a long one but we need to start adding some meat to Diana and Steve's relationship. I hope it isn't moving too fast. I've been kind of stressing over that since I started working on this story lol. I want their relationship to feel real, and I want you guys to route for them as much as I do! Alright I'll stop talking. Thank you to all the new followers and reviews!_

 _Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters...I only own Diana..._

* * *

 _ **APRIL 6, 2012**_

"Are you sure?" Diana rubbed her tired eyes, slowly sitting up in bed.

" _The recruits all say the same things, ma'am. And tonight, is no different."_

She let out a sigh, feet falling to the rug beneath her bed. "I assume no one else has tried to wake him?"

The agent on the other line faltered. _"N-No ma'am. You are Captain Rogers' liaison. It made the most sense to call you with our concerns."_

Diana shoved a hand into her hair, fingernails scratching at her scalp. She got up from her bed, lights coming on with her movement. "Alright just…keep everyone away from his room. I'll be there soon."

The agent sounded relieved to hear her say that. He quickly hung up after that and Diana threw back her head. She let out a loud groan. She'd been getting reports from the other recruits in the dorms that Steve seemed to be having trouble sleeping. However, Diana did not anticipate for it to start effecting the others. She looked at her clock. It was a quarter till five in the morning. She could have slept for another hour.

 _Damnit Rogers, what the hell is going on?_

"Jarvis." Diana called out as she moved to her bathroom.

" _Good morning mum."_ The lights came on in her bathroom as she stepped through the threshold, television screens blinking to life in her mirror. _"Weather forecasts predict a sunny morning with a high of forty-six. Shall I begin brewing your coffee?"_

Diana splashed cold water on her face, leaning against the counter on her elbows. She was beyond lucky that Jarvis could operate at more than one system at a time. And that her dad let her have Jarvis at all. He was probably using the AI to spy on her anyway.

"No coffee today J." She reached for her toothbrush, "At least not for a few hours. I think I'll be getting it at a restaurant later."

" _Shall I provide you with a list of all the highest reviewed cafés in the area?"_

He was being extra helpful this morning. Maybe he noticed how not ready she was for the early morning wake up call. Diana scrubbed her teeth quickly, spitting and rinsing out her mouth. "You're very kind Jarvis. But I think I can handle it."

She hoped she could.

Within minutes she was dressed in simple civilian clothes, no reason to get in her uniform for something that wasn't technically a mission. She arrived at the New York office in record time. It was strange being here so early. There were agents and other employees moving about, but not nearly as many as Diana is used to seeing during the day.

She entered the building quickly, not stopping to give any type of greetings or explanations as the why she was there so early. It wasn't out of the ordinary for Diana Stark to be so laser focused on her job though. Most everyone at the agency had come to expect it.

Once she was scanned in, she headed straight for the dormitory building. It was small, built to house at least fifty cadets at a time. The office in D.C. was much larger and could house more recruits. But the New York dorms were just as nice.

The dormitories worked a lot like a coed dorm at any typical college. There was a front desk where guests were required to sign in as well as a common area with a television and couches. When Diana walked in she merely had to flash her face and the agents sitting at the desk let her pass. They were the ones that called her in anyway, they were expecting her.

From the desk, Diana took a right down a long hallway. She walked to the end of it and stopped at the room on the left. It was slightly separated from the other dorms. Diana had to guess that Steve was given this room on purpose. No wonder he was feeling so down. Whoever had assigned him this room had basically isolated him from the others.

Silently, Diana pressed her ear against the door. It was mostly quiet save for the occasional mumbled cry. Chewing her lip, she stood up straight and raised her fist. She knocked three times, solid but not loud. Diana silently prayed that it would be enough to wake him up. She would hate to stand here and pound on his door all morning.

Nervously, she began to shake her legs back and forth, adjusting the shoulders of her loose-fitting sweater. Maybe he was a heavy sleeper…

The door suddenly came open and there stood a sleepy Steve Rogers.

"Diana?" He rubbed his eyes hard against the light from the hall. "What are you doing here? What time is it?"

She didn't answer. Wanting to give him privacy she pushed past him into his room. It was tiny. She took two steps and to her left she could see what she guessed was the bathroom. Three more steps got her past the small entryway to the room itself. Steve had a twin sized bed shoved up against the far wall, a desk against the opposite. There were books and newspapers and files piled onto the desk along with a few used candles.

Diana didn't realize he liked candles.

"Hey." Steve closed his door and followed her. "What the hell is going on?"

"I couldn't sleep." She turned to face him, "Want to go get breakfast with me?"

Steve's jaw went slack. "Diana it's almost five in the morning…"

Diana looked down at her watch. "Quarter past five, actually." She glanced back up at him, her eyes bulging for a half second. He wasn't wearing a shirt. And his checkered pajama pants were hanging dangerously low on his hips.

 _Wow._

The ceiling was suddenly very fascinating. Diana started to look everywhere but him. Nearly two months awake, and this was the first time she got to see him sans shirt. She had to admit, it was a hell of a view. But she wasn't there to stare. Or drool. Protocol dictated she stay within a certain limit from Steve. Didn't mean she couldn't at least take another peak.

Her eyes danced from the ceiling back down to his chest before falling to the desk. _Good lord_.

Steve must have seen her eyes. She saw him adjust his pants and move to find a shirt in the low-lit room. "Where can we go for breakfast this early?"

When she dared to look back, he'd put a shirt back on. But it was a tight, form hugging shirt. Really not helping me Rogers.

"IHOP." She grinned, "I realized that you have yet to experience the International House of Pancakes. And since neither of us has an upcoming mission, why not try it out?"

Steve could appreciate the thought behind it but…

"At five in the morning?"

"About to be five-thirty if you stand there any longer."

Steve really wasn't going to win this one. With a sigh he agreed, going to his dresser to search for clothes. He pulled out a pair of denim pants, a dark green button up and a pair of socks. Diana patiently waited for him to get changed and ready. While he moved about in his bathroom, she took the opportunity to snoop.

She picked up one of the candles, the wax nearly gone and the wick with it. He must have used it a lot. Diana gave it a smell, pulling back with an approving nod. It smelled like cedar wood or amber. She tilted the bottle over and frowned. No label.

Replacing the candle, she started picking through the books. Most of them were books she'd given him. A lot of history books and biographies. There was a pile of TIME magazines, as well as a stack of newspapers. One set of books caught her attention. Diana bent down to peer at the spines.

John Steinbeck's _East_ _of_ _Eden_. George Orwell's _1984_. The last two surprised her. There was a book of classic American poets and the final, a copy of Stephen King's _The_ _Shining_.

Diana straightened when she heard Steve come out of the bathroom. He smelled like soap, looking much more refreshed then he did before he entered. She smiled and pointed at his books. "I like your choices. Didn't take you for a horror fan though."

He saw where she was pointing. "Oh. Yeah, the store clerk recommended that one to me. Told me if I was going to get into modern writers, I should start with him."

She gave an approving nod. "It's a good choice. Don't read it at night though unless you can handle being afraid to turn out the lights."

"Is it really that bad?"

Diana giggled, "Wait until you read his other work. _Salem's_ _Lot_ still haunts me."

* * *

"So, are you going to have the pancakes or the pancakes?"

Diana peeked at Steve over her menu, smirking at his grin. "You really want me to get the pancakes, don't you?"

"It's okay if you don't want them." She set her menu down flat on the table, reaching for her coffee. "You can have a bite of mine. I can never finish all the food I get. It fills you up quick."

Steve turned to the second page of the menu. "I honestly don't even know where to begin."

"What is your heart telling you to do?"

"My heart?" A blond brow lifted at her. Diana snickered.

"You know. What are you feeling? What on that menu," she pointed to it, "is calling your name?"

Steve stared down at the menu. There were combo meals, twelve options for pancakes, waffles, French toast, omelets, crepes, and a "featured items" section. It was almost overwhelming.

"I think I just want eggs and bacon…"

"A classic." Diana set down her drink. "As to be expected from Captain America."

He knew she was teasing. "And what will the Stark heiress be getting today?" He set down his menu and picked up his drink. Coffee, black with two sugars.

Diana was about to answer when their waiter returned. Steve ordered first and then Diana. His eyes going wide at her for a moment when he heard her order.

The waiter left, and Steve gave her a confused look. "I'm sorry. The "big steak omelet with a side of pancakes"?"

"Yeah. What? What's wrong?"

"I would be surprised to see you finish all of that."

Diana scoffed playfully. "Is that a challenge Rogers?" His only answer was to laugh at her. "Okay how about this." She leaned forward, resting her chin in her hand. "I finish all my food, and you have to tell me what's keeping you up at night."

His heart stopped but his grin never faltered. "And if you can't finish?"

She shrugged, "Then I'll take you back to HQ and forget about it. I'll never bring it up again." Her hand came out from under her chin. "Deal, Rogers?"

Steve, reluctantly, shook her hand.

The food arrived, and they ate in a tense silence. Diana easily finished her omelet, mountainous though it was. She moved to the pancakes and when she got halfway through, Steve started to panic. There was a last quarter left and Diana paused.

"Ugh…" She groaned, thankful that she decided to wear leggings instead of jeans. This would be far more uncomfortable than it already was if she had.

"Having some trouble?" Steve had cleared his plate and was sipping at his coffee, waiting for her to give up.

Diana glared up at him. "Maybe. I haven't admitted defeat yet." She stabbed the final slice of pancake. It was soaked in maple syrup and butter. Diana felt like puking.

"Didn't you," his voice made her pause and she looked up at him, "offer to let me try the pancakes? You talked a big talk about them, but I haven't been able to taste them yet."

"Steve." She pointed her fork at him, syrup dripping onto the table. "I made a deal with you. I finish all of my food and you tell me what's bothering you at night."

His arms crossed. "You know I'm not going to tell you. Whether you finish that last bite or not. It's not happening."

"Oh, don't be so stubborn." Diana proudly shoved the last bit of pancake into her mouth. "I'm going to find out one way or another."

She chewed. Swallowed. Then let out a quiet burp. On another day, Steve would have been beyond impressed that a girl her size was able to put away so much protein and carbs. Then again, she did exercise intensely every morning.

"Now." Diana gulped down the rest of her coffee. "Tell me what's up with you."

"I'm not playing this game anymore." Steve stood up, jacket in hand. Diana tried to call after him, but he wouldn't listen and swiftly left the restaurant. With an annoyed sigh she also stood, dug through her bag for some cash and slapped the first bill she got her hands on onto the table.

She momentarily paused and thought about grabbing the appropriate amount but decided that catching up to Steve was more important. Their waiter would be getting a rather large tip today it would seem.

Diana jogged out of the place, hand falling to her very full stomach. "Steve." She called to him. He hadn't gone far. He sat on the benches outside of the IHOP, like he was waiting for her.

"Steve I…" She walked up to him, feeling awkward and suddenly not knowing what to say.

He looked up at her, elbows resting on his knees. "I can't tell you why Diana. It's…hard to talk about. Hard to think about."

Slowly, she sat down next to him, bag resting in her lap. The cold morning air sent a chill through her body and she was grateful for Steve's large form blocking some of the wind.

"You don't have to tell me Steve." He looked at her, surprised. "I'm sorry if I pushed you. Call it the spy in me but, I usually do whatever it takes to get answers."

"I'm not a mission Diana. At least," his eyes fell away from her again, "I hope I'm not."

"No, no you're not." Diana's head shook back and forth, hands clenching together in her lap. "You're…I just want to help. Right now, my job is to help you. Whether that's training, or getting you caught up with what you've missed. Or even, helping you be as comfortable as possible. That's what I'm here for. I'm only here to help you. I promise."

Steve watched the street for a few moments. It was still early morning; the sun was just starting to peek through the buildings into the city. A few cars would pass by, and a few people walked past them. He sat up straight, back bouncing against the bench. He could feel the cold early spring air through his jacket. Steve glanced at Diana, feeling a twinge of concern for her. She must have been feeling the cold through her oversized sweater and thin pants.

"I don't think I can stay in those dorms anymore." Diana seemed surprised to hear him speak but he continued. "It doesn't feel like home in there. They feel…empty."

Now it was Diana's turn to watch the street. She chewed her lip thoughtfully. "So, let's get you one."

"Get me what?"

"A home." Diana waved her arm around to the city. "There are vacant apartments all over the city. Granted, whichever one you pick, I'll have to get one there too. If you're not going to stay on SHILED property where I know you'll be safe, then I need to be where you are."

Steve smirked. "You're not gonna be that easy to get rid of, are you?"

Diana stood up, hand digging through her purse for her car keys. She already had a few places in mind. She would just need to contact Fury before anything final happened. It wouldn't hurt to go look though.

"Cap, I'm afraid you're stuck with me." She started to walk away feeling Steve join her. Diana looked back at him over her shoulder. "At least until I feel like you'll be alright on your own. At which point in time you can kick me out of your life if you feel so inclined."

He watched her hair bounce against her back, the rising sun catching against the tresses making them glow. She smirked, nose crinkling upwards while her eyes turned playful.

Steve suddenly hoped that that day would never come. It was hard to imagine a life without Diana Stark.

* * *

 ** _MAY 1, 2012_**

Chaos. Ordered chaos, but chaos nonetheless. That is the sight Diana was greeted with as she looked out the small windows of the helicopter. As they landed, Diana shared a quick glance with Agent Hill. They both could feel the panic resting just beneath the surface of the tense air here. According to Fury this was all just a precaution, but Nick didn't like to give his agents a lot of details unless it was absolutely necessary.

Agent Phil Coulson awaited their arrival patiently. Maria threw open the helicopter door and jumped out followed by Diana and then Nick Fury. "How bad is it?" Nick had to raise his voice to be heard over the loud whir of the helicopter's wings.

"That's the problem sir." Phil answered, his mouth falling into a thin line. "We don't know."

From there, they were led down to the heart of the facility. The reason why this entire facility was even here in the first place. The Tesseract. Diana felt a shiver crawl down her spine as they got closer and closer to the main research lab. "Doctor Selvig read an energy surge from the Tesseract four hours ago." Phil explained, various doctors and research assistants running past their group frantically.

Diana frowned, 4 hours ago she was in New York, getting dinner with Steve. Now she was here, standing at the edge of a disaster.

"NASA didn't authorize Selvig to go to test phase." Fury's voice brought her out of her daydreams.

"He wasn't testing it." Coulson looked back at them, "He wasn't even in the room. Spontaneous event."

Maria and Diana shared a worried look. "It just turned itself on?" Maria asked.

"That can't be possible." Diana quickly remarked. She knew only a little about the Tesseract, but she knew enough that it couldn't possibly possess some sort of…sentience. Or maybe it did.

"Where are the energy levels now?" Fury was trying to assess what level of damage he was potentially looking at.

Phil shook his head. "Climbing. When Selvig couldn't shut it down, we ordered evac."

Evacuation of the entire facility would take at least an hour. Diana tried to calculate the time of when she got the call to meet Fury and Hill at New York HQ and when they arrived. "How long until everyone is out?" Diana asked, concern for their people her priority.

"Campus should be clear in the next half-hour." Coulson glanced back at her, answering with a quick and steady nod.

"Do better." Fury answered, not looking back as he continued to walk away. Everyone knew he didn't mean anything negative. It was just how things worked in S.H.I.E.L.D. Coulson broke away from them, giving Diana one last nod before disappearing into the crowd. It was hard not to feel a small ounce of concern for him. She'd known him for so long, he was like family to her.

Continuing in silence, Nick Fury and his two agents moved quickly towards a set of stairs that would take them a few levels lower to the lab. Diana moved ahead of Nick and Maria, eager to see what was going on and assess what damage might occur.

"Sir, evacuation may be futile." Maria's voice echoed down to them and Diana had a brief moment of annoyance. She understood that they were the ones who needed to make the hard decisions sometimes, but always expecting the worst started to weigh down on you after a while.

"We should tell them to go back to sleep?" Nick sounded like he was being sarcastic with her. Diana could never really tell exactly what Fury was thinking sometimes.

"If we can't control the Tesseract's energy, there may not be a minimum safe distance." She was right. Diana hated admitting that that could happen, because she liked her life and didn't want it to end just yet.

Diana pulled away from them, half-listening to Fury tell Maria about "phase 2 prototypes" and to get them on trucks. Whatever that meant. Hill was Fury's second in pretty much everything and therefore knew pretty much everything. Diana, although a valued field agent, was just that. A field agent. Fury likely brought her to the facility as extra muscle should there be an attack. At this point Diana really wasn't expecting to get into a fist fight of any kind, but she liked to stay optimistic and hoped that she came along for more than just a quick field trip.

Diana waited for Fury to lead the way into the lab and the hum of energy in the air was thick. It hit the agent hard, making her chest feel heavy. Fury quickly got down to business with Doctor Selvig.

"I assume you pulled the plug."

Selvig let out an exasperated sigh. "She's an energy source. We turn off the power, she turns it back on. If she reaches peak level…"

He trailed off, afraid to say aloud the possible catastrophic events that could occur should the Tesseract peak. Diana didn't know a lot about the Tesseract, but she knew enough. She knew it was a dangerous, foreign object from Asgard. Or space. She still wasn't quite sure on that.

"Doctor," Diana tried to reassure him, "we've prepared for this haven't we? Harnessing energy from space…"

"But we don't have the harness." Selvig stopped at his work station, the glow from the screens creating eerie shadows on his cheeks. "My calculations are far from complete. And she's throwing off interference, radiation. Nothing harmful, low levels of gamma radiation."

That would explain the weird feeling in the air. Fury took a step closer to Selvig, "That can be harmful." He stopped and looked around the room, "Where's Agent Barton?"

Selvig half-grinned, "The Hawk? Up in his nest as usual." He jerked a thumb back and up, pointing to a set of high rafters at the back of the lab. Diana followed where the doctor was pointing and saw Clint sitting down, arms leaned against a set of safety railing as his legs dangled over the side.

Fury pressed his ear, the communicator resting inside coming to life. He called for Barton, leading Diana over to meet him. Once they were all eye-level, Diana gave Barton a quick nod in greeting. Normally there would be smiles and pleasant exchanges. Today felt different though. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but something didn't feel right.

Nick led his agents away from the scientists, so they could talk in private. He addressed Barton on his right, feeling Diana fall in step on his left. "I gave you this detail so you could keep a close eye on things."

Clint nodded, "Well, I see better from a distance." And it was true. He wasn't addressed as Agent Hawkeye for no reason.

"Have you seen anything that might set this thing off?" Nick stepped up on the platform to the Tesseract, standing just in front of it. Clint joined him while Diana stayed off the raised dais, deciding to keep an eye on the various scientists.

"No one's come or gone." Clint answered, "And Selvig's clean. No contacts, no IMs. If there was any tampering sir, it wasn't at this end."

That made Diana pause. "At this end?" She asked despite her growing concern.

Barton shrugged. "Yeah, the Cube is a doorway to the other end of space, right? Doors open from both sides." Diana was about to tell him that she didn't like that. That she really, really didn't like that. But she didn't get the chance. The Tesseract sparked suddenly, alerting Fury and his agents. It sparked again and all three moved several feet away from the Cube.

The Cube sparked again and again, each time it's power seeming to grow bigger and bigger. Blue light began to shine around the Cube and it's housing chamber, swirling with power and quickly centering on the Cube. With a loud, piercing sound, a beam suddenly shot out of the Tesseract to the other side of the room where a portal began to open above a raised stage with a short set of stairs leading up to it.

The portal grew wider and wider, the energy from the Cube seemed to tear through space itself to create the doorway. They could hear the power winding up and up until with one loud, high pitched _boom_ and a bright flash of light everything seemed to explode.

Diana and everyone else covered their eyes against the blinding light, a rush of energy whooshing past them and climbing up the walls. When the light had faded, and Diana's eyes were adjusted she felt her heart stop. Someone had come out of that portal.

A man with hair blacker than coal and skin as pale as a ghost kneeled on the platform, blue energy rising off his shoulders. His body quivered as if he was exhausted, and Diana could see beads of sweat reflecting off his forehead. But it was his smile that made her fall into a readied stance. It was the smile of a crazed lunatic. Someone who wasn't going to be their friend anytime soon.

A group of security agents slowly approached him, their guns up and at the ready. Good, they could feel it too. The man lifted his head, green eyes piercing and sending nervous shivers down Diana's spine. He locked eyes with her and seemed to be a bit perturbed when she refused to look away. Silence fell over the entire room. No one really knew what to do or say.

The man stood gingerly, despite his trembling legs and heavy breathing. He looked tall. Very tall. Too tall. _This person isn't human_ , Diana thought as she dropped her fists to her sides. She pressed her fingers against her palms and felt her gloves spark to life. Ivan Vanko may have been a complete nutcase, but his improvements on her father's arc reactor technology were marvelous.

Diana quickly spotted the long spear their new arrival had in his hand. It looked weird and spacey. Not from Earth.

"Sir!" Fury called to him, deciding to take command of whatever the situation was, "Please, put down the spear!"

He gave Fury a curious gaze, then turned that gaze to his spear. He seemed to weigh it in his hand, assessing the bright blue jewel that rested near the tip. It didn't take long for him to make up his mind. Diana heard a low hum and watched as the man lifted the spear and fired a stream of bright blue energy at them.

Clint and Diana both grabbed Fury and shoved him back, ducking out of the way of the energy beam. It flew past them, hitting several computers and power generators, sending sparks flying. Nick fell and rolled away, leaving Diana and Clint to take care of their new guest.

 _Definitely a space weapon,_ Diana thought, watching as their guest quickly took out the security team, several scientists and even more agents. She saw Clint roll away and took her chance. She pushed her feet into the floor and sprinted at their guest. He aimed his spear at her, shooting and missing her once, twice, three times. Diana got within reaching distance and ducked down, avoiding the sharp tip of the spear, activating her gauntlets and sending both of her fists into his stomach.

He grunted but didn't falter, instead swinging the butt of his spear down towards her head. Diana grabbed the spear before it could hit her and pushed up letting out a loud cry. This man was much, much stronger than she'd thought. He tried to swing at her again with the spear, this time coming in a wide arc. Diana quickly jumped back, but before she felt her feet hit the ground again, she instead felt a very heavy boot connect with her abdomen. The next thing she knew, she was flying backwards, back colliding with something solid.

"Eyes up, Agent Howard." Nick spoke lowly into her ear, his hands giving her shoulders a quick squeeze before moving away. Diana looked behind her, finding that she'd been kicked back towards the Cube. Fury was there with an open brief case, kneeling in front of the Tesseract. _Eyes up_ he had said. When she did look up, she saw a ball of bright blue energy, bubbling and growing with each passing second. The Tesseract must have caused that reaction, and from what she could see it was not going to be stable for much longer.

Diana quickly got up, ready to move when Fury was. She watched silently as their new arrival touched the tip of his spear to Barton's chest. A flow of blue energy came out of Clint and into the jewel of the spear. Clint's eyes turned black and then a ghostly electric blue before he stood at ease, holstering his pistol.

Mind control. Wonderful. Diana fought the urge to call out to Clint and the urge to stop that man from doing whatever he'd just done to anyone else. He moved to another agent and repeated his actions, touching the tip of his spear to the agent's chest. Diana grimaced but ignored it again. They needed to get out, quickly.

Nick took hold of the Cube and silently put it into the waiting briefcase, clipping it shut. After wincing and shaking his slightly burning hand, he stood and nodded to Agent Howard. They turned and began to walk away.

"Please don't." Their guest finally spoke, his voice deep and smooth. It was deceptively pleasant to listen to, despite everything he'd just done. Nick and Diana stopped. "I still need that." He said as he turned to face them. When Diana turned back to him she saw red splotches underneath his bright eyes. Whatever he'd done to get here had obviously exhausted him. If it hadn't, she feels their fist fight would have lasted much longer.

"This doesn't have to get any messier." Nick said to him over his shoulder. He heard Diana's gauntlets come to life, as if to emphasize his point.

"Of course, it does." He answered, "I've come too far for anything else." Nick turned to face their guest as he continued, "I am Loki, of Asgard and I am burdened with glorious purpose."

Diana's brain started to race. She tried to mentally recover the files S.H.I.E.L.D had on Thor. From what she could remember, she knew that Loki wasn't going to be their friend any time soon.

"Loki," Doctor Selvig stood from his kneeled position on the ground, "brother of Thor." Diana noted Loki's visible annoyance when Selvig mentioned Thor. She filed that away under " _things to annoy Loki with"_ for future use.

Fury held up a gloved hand, "We have no quarrel with your people."

"An ant has no quarrel with a boot." Diana was starting to not like this guy.

"Are you planning to step on us?" Fury was stalling. He knew they could probably get out in time before the energy cloud behind them burst, but at this point he was prepared to stop Loki at any cost.

Loki held out his arms, "I come with glad tidings of a world made free." He moved a few steps over, Selvig now standing behind him.

"Oh yeah?" Diana lifted an eyebrow at him, "Free from what?"

"Freedom." He answered to which Diana rolled her eyes. It amazed her the things people could come up with. "Freedom is life's great lie. Once you accept that, in your heart," he suddenly turned and placed the tip of his spear against Selvig's chest, "you will know peace."

Diana watched Selvig turn like the others had and bit back any smart comments that came into her head. She heard Fury let out a dry, humorless laugh. "Yeah you say "peace". I kind of think you mean the other thing."

"Sir." Clint finally spoke, his voice flat and lifeless. "Director Fury and Agent Howard are stalling. This place is about to blow and drop a hundred feet of rock on us. They mean to bury us."

"Like the pharaohs of old." Nick quickly commented, sarcasm dripping from his mouth.

"He's right." Selvig got everyone's attention, all heads turning towards him as he leaned down over a computer monitor.

With all head's facing away from them Nick glanced over to Diana, catching her eyes. "Follow my lead." He whispered, so quiet the normal human ear wouldn't be able to hear it. But with Diana's enhanced senses, Nick was sure she would. Diana didn't argue-despite how much she wanted to-and flicked her wrists, gauntlets powering down.

Selvig continued, "The portal is collapsing in on itself. We've got maybe two minutes before this goes critical."

Loki shrugged. "Well, then."

With that Clint raised his gun and shot twice, hitting both Nick Fury and Diana Stark in the chest. Both went down. Diana laid still, fighting the urge to writhe and curse at the pain shooting through her shoulder. She heard Loki and the others approach them, pick up the brief case and walk out of the room. When she was sure they'd left, Diana lifted her head and let out a pain-filled groan.

"Remind me why I did that." She grunted, sitting up and starting to dig Barton's bullet out of her armor. He'd shot her in the left shoulder, high and away from her lungs. Either Loki's mind control made Clint's aim turn to shit, or there was still a bit of Clint inside that shell.

Fury didn't answer her. Instead he grabbed for his walkie talkie, grunting as he too began to sit up and pull out Barton's precisely aimed bullet. "Hill!" He stood with help from Diana, "Do you copy? Barton has turned. They have the Tesseract! Shut them down!"

Diana and Nick began to sprint through the now empty facility. The Tesseracts energy was due to make the place implode in two minutes and that thought only fueled them on to move faster. Diana felt the ground beneath their feet begin to tremble, the walls started to quake and any lose item began to fall to the floor.

" _Director Fury! We're clear upstairs, sir. You need to go_!" Coulson sounded desperate. They could all see the facility beginning to collapse. Diana saw the door that would lead them out to their helicopter and threw it open, holding it for Fury to pass through. Nick jumped onto the helicopter, holding out a hand and pulling Diana on with him. As they lifted off, the concrete quickly began to crack and splinter. The helicopter climbed higher, Diana moved to look out the window. The helipad they'd just been on pulsed and buckled before imploding all together. The entire facility fell and collapsed in on itself, a giant hole replacing the once vast campus.

Diana was about to sit back, thinking that maybe-just maybe-Loki and the Tesseract had been buried. Then she saw a lone truck with flashing yellow lights escape the wreckage. It was Loki.

"That truck, stay on it!" Diana ordered the pilot who quickly nodded and turned the helicopter, lowering altitude and maneuvering so Diana and Fury could attempt to stop them. "Keep it steady!" Diana called out to him as Nick threw open the door.

They didn't have much in weapon choice aboard their flight, only their standard issue pistols. Diana pulled the trigger of her gun, trying to shoot at the engine and around Clint. She hoped that her and Nick would be able to distract Clint enough that he lost control of his vehicle.

But their attempts at stopping Loki would be in vein. With a grunt, Loki lifted his tired arm and shot the helicopter, hitting the propeller with near precision accuracy. Immediately the helicopter began to flounder, spinning out of control and losing altitude fast. Reacting quickly, Fury and Diana jumped from the open door, tucking and rolling. Diana shot up to her feet, ignoring the helicopter as it crashed down on its side. She sprinted after the truck, pushing her legs harder than she ever had before. But despite her speed, the truck was moving too fast for her.

Huffing, Diana came to a stop, falling to her knees. "Damnit." She cursed, fist colliding with the dirt.

"Director?" Coulson again. "Director Fury, do you copy?"

"The Tesseract is with a hostile force. I have men down. Hill?"

Diana stood up and walked back to Fury, stopping a few feet in front of him. Maria had answered him, thank god she made it out. "Coulson get back to base. This is a Level Seven." That made Diana's heart drop into her stomach. Level Seven was bad. F.U.B.A.R levels of bad. "As of right now, we are at war."

Maria Hill's voice crackled over the channel. "What do we do?"

Nick didn't answer her, but Diana had a pretty good idea. "Does this mean I need to go get our friend from New York?"

* * *

Despite having grown up in sunny and warm Malibu, Diana had always felt more at home in New York. Maybe it was because this is where she spent most of her teenage years. Where she had trained to become a field agent. Where she had gone to school. Where she had grown up.

It could also have something to do with her mom. Veronica was born and raised in New York. Maybe there was a strange, unspoken connection there too.

Besides all of that, it always felt good to come back. Diana left HQ after the sun had fallen behind the horizon. It took longer to fill out the reports this time. Probably due to the whole "Loki of Asgard" bit. Diana just knew that she wanted to get home, soon. Fury was giving her the night to convince their friend to join them. She hoped she could deliver.

Diana drove in silence to her apartment, the smell of her freshly washed hair filling up the space in her car. She had the briefest urge to call her dad, or Pepper. They needed to know what happened. But Coulson was assigned to recruit Tony. Smart move on Fury's part seeing as Tony was still a little peeved with Diana about the whole "lying to me for years" thing. It could also all be in Diana's head and Tony had already forgiven her. She was just too afraid to call him. Especially after the fiasco with Vanko.

She reached her apartment much sooner than she'd planned but was grateful all the same. Traffic was nice and empty this late at night, and Diana liked it.

Diana stepped out of her car and looked up, the third floor was completely dark. That meant one of two things. Either her floor-mate was sleeping, or he'd decided to have another late-night gym session. Diana picked up her bag and sighed, knowing exactly where he would be at this hour. Locking her car, she began the short trek up the block to an old but well-liked neighborhood gym.

It was family owned and operated. Diana had met the owner when she was living in the city and became a favorite customer of his. Alfonso Ricci, owner of The Wise Guy Gym, was an old Italian with a hearty laugh and a thirst for a good story. When he met Diana Stark, he'd been thrilled to hear any stories she could tell him. And now that she brought her new friend to him, he was more than happy to lend them a key, so they could "workout" any night of the week.

Little did Alfonso know, that would be almost every night. Thankfully his two late-night guests were very good at keeping the gym relatively clean. And if they did make any big messes, they were sure to clean it up without complaint.

Diana entered the gym easily, the door left unlocked. He knew she was coming back tonight and must have guessed that she would come find him once she got home. Diana fought to make her heart stop racing. He didn't care about her like that. He was just a good guy. One of the best she'd ever met.

When Diana walked onto the floor, past the front offices and found him. Steve Rogers aka Captain America. The miracle on ice, literally. When S.H.I.E.L.D found him, they were expecting him to be dead. But somehow, he'd survived being frozen alive for 70 years. Diana still remembers the day he woke up and how she'd argued that trying to be gentle with him just wouldn't work.

She might have had a bias towards Captain America. It probably didn't help that she studied him relentlessly as a child and teenager. When she became a part of S.H.I.E.L.D and reached a higher level of clearance, she read all the reports she could get her hands on. He was a super soldier, like her. She wanted to know what made them the way they are. She couldn't find anything in her grandfather's files about creating a serum in detail. The most she could gather is that the serum was synthesized from Steve's own blood. But, frustratingly, Howard Stark never went into detail about it. To add to her frustration, once Diana had begun to read the files on Captain Steven Grant Rogers, she found herself just as disappointed. S.H.I.E.L.D or whoever had designed the original serum kept it hidden from the world.

Now here she is. Standing in a well-used gym watching Captain America hit his way through punching bag after punching bag. She knew Fury had assigned her to be Steve's liaison to S.H.I.E.L.D because of her avid interest in him. But Diana had a feeling Nick didn't realize exactly what he was doing. Or maybe he did. Either way, Diana was not expecting to form any kind of bond with the Captain.

At first it looked like that wasn't going to happen. Rogers was very quiet, taking in everything gently. Diana expected anger or denial. Anything. But Steve quietly sat and read the history books she provided, watched the documentaries in silence. If he had a question he would ask, but he never seemed too eager on doing much else.

But Diana could see beneath the surface. Maybe not everything, but she spotted just enough to see that he really was hurting. Their apartment building was small, each floor only able to have three separate units. They had the entire third floor to themselves, their apartments sharing a wall in each other's bedrooms. Steve didn't know that the third apartment was used to house several weapons and a place for Diana to tinker with her equipment.

Now she knew why the recruits had wanted her help back then. Why they said Steve was keeping them awake almost every night. Because now, she could hear him. Yelling, calling out names, falling out of the bed. It broke her heart every time. But she had protocol to follow. When she'd told Fury about wanting to move Rogers to an apartment building, he had agreed. The only condition was she continue to act in a professional manner. It was like he could see the growing attachment she had for Steve. Every time they would train together or spend any amount of time together, Fury's voice continued to echo in her head. _Maintain protocol, maintain protocol, maintain protocol._

But she needed to help him. Somehow. She was just clueless as to what she should do. Diana didn't know how to gently coerce Steve into seeing a therapist. She didn't even know if that would help. She honestly had no experience with a soldier and their PTSD. Every spy she'd ever known was a master compartmentalizer. And if they did suffer, they kept it quiet. But Diana had a feeling that wasn't going to work for the Captain.

Steve grunted as sweat dripped down his neck. He was hitting the bag too hard again. Diana had learned to let him finish whatever this was. The first time she tried to stop him a few weeks ago, he nearly gave her a black eye. Now she patiently waited for Steve to fall out of whatever trancelike state this was.

He wasn't even practicing good form at this point. He was punching just to punch, letting out whatever it was he needed to let out. Steve's punches got harder and harder, the sound of his wrapped fists bouncing off the leather bag echoing against the gym's concrete floors. He hit and hit and hit until finally… _snap!_

The punching bag flew off the now shattered chain. It slammed into the nearby wall, sand pouring out of the hole Steve's fists had created. Quiet again, Steve moved to grab his second in a line of many fresh punching bags. He easily hung it back up and resumed his form.

Diana decided to get his attention now before he fell back into a trance. "Burning the midnight oil again?"

Her voice made him stop after the first punch. Steve straightened up, steadying the swinging bag and eyed Diana as she made her way across the floor towards him. Diana gave him a small, warm grin. "I take it you still have trouble sleeping." She already knew he did, but she was trying to keep the mood light.

Steve, breathing heavily from his workout, eyed her up and down. She was wearing those 'yoga pants' again. He still didn't quite understand what yoga was, but Diana had explained it as well as she could. She wanted to get him to try it sometime. Maybe he should, if it's as relaxing as she says it can be. The pants were a completely different story. All Diana said on the matter was that they ' _were very comfortable_ '. She then proceeded to blush and mumble, ' _they also make my butt look good_ ' to which Steve also blushed and the subject was dropped entirely.

He decided that his workout was done. It was obvious Diana wanted to talk about something, and he needed to distract himself from looking at her legs in those pants. He started to unwrap his hands, moving towards a bench where his bag sat patiently.

"I slept for seventy years, Diana. I think I've had my fill."

"Then let's go out," Diana gestured to the door leading to the street, "celebrate. See the world."

He kept his back to her. "When I went under, the world was at war. I wake up, they say we won. They didn't say what we lost."

Diana let out a low breath. He hadn't been like this a month ago. It was getting worse. "I know." She conceded, moving to stand closer to him. God but he smelled good. Diana quickly stomped out that thought and continued. "We have made mistakes along the way. Some, very recently."

Steve stuffed his wrappings into his bag. "Does Fury have a mission for me?" Diana grinned. Always so intuitive.

"He does." She kept her answers simple, knowing that Steve liked simple answers, not the dance she usually did with other agents.

"Trying to get me back in the world?" Diana unfolded her hands from behind her back revealing the folder she'd been holding.

She took a step closer, giving the folder to Steve hoping he wouldn't see her shaking hands. "Trying to save it." She answered letting him take the document and look at it. The first page, she hoped, would be enough to convince him to join them. It was a picture of the Cube in full display. She knew Steve had dealt with it before. Hopefully once he saw that it was out and stolen, he'd volunteer to help bring it back.

Steve felt the weight of seventy years on his shoulders and had to take a seat. Slowly, he fell to the bench and let out a shaky breath. "HYDRA's secret weapon." He knew what men could do with the Cube when given the chance. He'd seen what it could do when not kept in check. Steve felt a chill run up and down his spine and set his jaw tight.

"My grandfather, Howard Stark, fished that thing out of the ocean when he went looking for you." Steve had guessed early on that Diana Howard wasn't her real name. For some reason he could read Diana very well and knew when she claimed that her name was 'Howard' it was a cover. Thankfully when he confronted her about it a few months ago, she'd admitted who she really was. It was a shock at first. He never thought Howard Stark would have kids, let alone grandkids. But when he really looked at Diana, he could see the resemblance. It was the eyes. And that smirk. Starks seemed to have mastered "the smirk".

Diana continued, "He thought what S.H.I.E.L.D thinks. The Tesseract could be the key to unlimited sustainable energy. That is something…the world sorely needs."

Steve watched her clench her jaw, her fists tighten ever-so slightly. "But you don't think so."

 _Damn you Rogers_. Diana sighed. "No. Not with that thing. I don't trust it."

He felt a small swelling of pride bloom in his chest. Diana had barely been around the Cube and she already felt the same way about it as he did. He knew he liked her for some reason. "Who took it from you?" Steve questioned her, handing back the file. He'd seen enough.

"A tall, angry man named Loki." Diana took back the file, idling playing with the corners of the papers in her hands. "He's…not from around here. We'll need to get you up to speed with everything else if you're in. The world is far stranger than what I've been able to show you."

Steve stood up, taking his bag and walking with Diana towards the exit. "At this point, I doubt anything would surprise me."

Diana chuckled. "Fury told me to tell you that should that ever happen, you owe him ten bucks." She felt her heart thump when Steve grinned, eyes down at the floor. It was brief, but she saw it. She continued before she tried to make another joke and embarrass herself. "There's a debriefing packet waiting for you back at the apartment. Until then, is there anything you can tell me about the Tesseract that we ought to know now?"

She watched him bend down and pick up an unused punching bag, easily swinging it onto his shoulder. They continued their way to the exit, Diana grabbing her bag on the way out. Steve had stayed silent the whole way, not answering her question. She decided not to push him on the subject, feeling that showing him those pictures had only brought up old, painful memories.

They reached their building, climbing the stairs and going to their doors in silence. Diana had just turned her key when she heard Steve behind her. "To answer your question Diana." She ignored how her cheeks flushed at the sound of her name coming from his mouth. "Your grandfather should have left that thing in the ocean."

He went inside his apartment. "Steve…" They both stopped when Diana called out to him. Diana had to admit she didn't know exactly what she was doing. But all she could think about was how early they had to move out tomorrow, and how she knew that Steve wouldn't sleep enough. He would have the nightmares again and Diana would hear him, and she would force herself to ignore it because of "protocol". However, the image of her own father waking up in cold sweats and screaming for a friend she would never get to meet kept running through her brain. Diana had done nothing back then to help. Maybe now the universe was giving her a second chance. Maybe now she could finally help instead of ignoring the problem. Regardless of what protocol said.

She realized she'd been staring at Steve Rogers and he looked very, very confused. Diana shook herself. "Sorry I just…would you like some tea?"

He set down his gym bag and new punching bag. "Tea? What for?"

"We have an early call time tomorrow. Tea always helps me get a good night's rest, and why not offer it to you." Fingers idly played with her keys, knees suddenly trembling. She pushed a chunk of hair behind her ear, "I know it's weird. Forget I offered…"

"No, it's fine." Steve took a step out of his apartment and stopped, hand falling to his sweat soaked shirt. "I think I'd like to shower first if that's alright."

Diana nodded. "Oh. Oh!" Her head nodded more vigorously. "Yeah sure, whatever you need to do. I'll uh," she backed up to her door, "leave the door unlocked. Just come in whenever."

With that he smiled and shut his door and Diana effectively started to freak out. _What am I doing?!_ She screamed at herself, fumbling with her keys. She got her door unlocked eventually, the lights coming on automatically.

" _Good evening Miss. You have a new message from your father, shall I play it for you?"_

"Jarvis." Diana let out a breath of relief at his familiar voice. She dropped her bag by her door then thought better of it and decided that her bedroom would be a better place for the well-worn object. "Jarvis we're going to be having a guest tonight. So, if my dad is listening, please tell him that it's not what it looks like. And make sure he isn't listening, please."

" _I will be sure to pass on the message mum."_ Diana kicked off her shoes and looked around her bedroom, it was relatively clean save for some pieces of clothes scattered about the floor. But Steve's visit wasn't going to be _that_ kind of visit. No way would he be coming into her bedroom anytime soon. Diana left the bedroom, firmly shutting the door behind her and moving towards the living room. Jarvis' voice followed her throughout the small space. _"Shall I play the message your father left for you?"_

"Um," Diana peeled off her jacket and draped it over the back of her white cotton couch, "yeah sure J. Thanks." She was a little too focused on making sure her apartment didn't reek to be concerned about a message from Tony. But Jarvis kept insisting, and Diana felt like she needed the proverbial comfort of Tony's voice, even if he was probably still upset with her.

" _Of course, madam."_ Jarvis answered curtly. There was a pause and then Diana heard an all too familiar voice.

" _Kiddo_." Dad. " _Do you remember that talk we had about secrets? Remember when you told me you wouldn't keep them anymore? Well if you do then can you please tell me why I am currently watching security footage of you and Nick Fury trying to sneak the damn Tesseract away from a tall scary man wielding a golden space-scepter?_ "

Diana rolled her eyes as she moved to her kitchen. It was more of a kitchenette, only sporting a small stove, sink and fridge and just enough room for one person to cook comfortably. " _Also_ ," Tony's voice continued, " _when were you going to tell me that you've been rooming with Captain freaking America for the past 3 months? And you've been…acclimatizing him to the twenty-first century? Next thing you're going to tell me is he's your damn boyfriend_."

"Pfft. I wish." Diana brought out her kettle and teapot, filling the kettle with water and setting it on the stove. To the pot, she added two bags of her favorite "Nighty Night" brew.

" _And don't think that you can ignore this message. I told Jarvis to bother you about it until you got so annoyed you just had to listen. Also, don't think that I won't forget about any of this. Fury wanted me, so he's got me. If anything, it's so I can stay close to you—my only daughter—and make sure you don't die when going after an Asgardian to save a stupid Cube_."

Hands on her hips, she looked up to the ceiling. "Overreacting much?"

" _And no, I am not overreacting_." It was like he could hear her. " _I'm your father damnit. I have the right to overreact._ " There was a pause and she heard him take in a deep breath. " _Look, I'll be there tomorrow. Once we get past this whole Cube thing, I'll be expecting some answers. Please. I just want to know that my daughter is safe._ "

Diana sat back against her counter, arms folded over her chest as she listened. She hadn't heard that tone from her dad in a while. It felt kind of nice knowing he was worried. Diana looked down at her mismatched socks and let the message play out.

" _Pepper is asking about you. Please call her or else she'll start to worry more than she is now—and that is not something either you or I want. Also look out your window tonight. Might be something there that could convince you to come back home_."

With that the message ended. Diana sat still for a few minutes, suddenly missing her father a lot more than she had before she heard his voice.

" _Miss Stark I…"_

"Sorry." Startled, Diana whipped her head towards the new voice that joined her quiet space. It was Steve. Diana shouldn't be surprised. She'd told him to come inside when he was done with his shower. _He must take very quick showers_ , Diana mused. Either that or she'd been standing in her kitchen a lot longer than she thought. Her eyes roamed up and down his body, assessing his new attire.

He was wearing a pair of dark sweats and a blue t-shirt. The color complimented his eyes. "I'm not interrupting anything am I?"

"Hmm? Oh." Diana shook her head and gestured for him to come closer, he was standing in the hallway awkwardly. "Don't worry it was just a message from my dad."

Steve moved toward her kitchen, walking around to the breakfast bar. "I thought someone else was in here with you." He kept looking around, expecting someone to pop up and scare him.

Diana chuckled. "No, I just have a very good stereo system. And an AI to help."

"Artificial intelligence." He crossed his arms, head shaking slowly. "Don't think I'll ever truly understand that one. It still amazes me."

"You and me both." She smiled, glad that he seemed to be in a better mood than he was in the gym. Steve's head started turning and eventually his whole body followed as he assessed her apartment. It was the same layout as his own, just flipped. Instead of the kitchen and bathroom being on the left side of the apartment, Diana's was on the right. Her style was a lot less…vintage than his own. She seemed to prefer white furniture over Steve's favored dark browns and blacks. However, Steve noticed an absence of personality throughout the space. The apartment was nice and beautifully furnished, but it lacked anything that would mark it as her own. Strange.

The kettle started to whistle, and Diana quickly removed it from the stove, pouring the hot water over the waiting tea bags in her pot. She closed the lid to the pot and set the kettle back on the stove. "Well," she moved the pot to her breakfast counter, "what do you like in your tea? Sugar, honey, cream?"

"To be honest I don't really remember." He moved to sit at the counter while Diana grabbed two mugs from a cupboard. "It's been a long time since I had a hot cup of tea."

"I'm honored you'd let me be the first in a while then." She set the mugs down and turned to gather the rest of the needed ingredients. She wasn't sure what Steve would want, so she decided to grab it all. A bottle of honey, some sugar packets and a carton of half and half now sat patiently next to her teapot.

"So, what was it that Tony was talking about in that message?"

Diana started to move to sit next to Steve at the counter. "If I had to guess, it would be the new Stark Tower. Dad knows how much I love the city and probably built it here to get me to come back to work for him."

Steve's brow creased. "Tony doesn't want you to be a part of S.H.I.E.L.D? I thought he'd like that since Howard helped create it."

"Yeah…" Diana rubbed the back of her neck. "I've always got the feeling that dad and gramps never really got along. Dad didn't talk about him, and when I would ask he would just brush off the subject."

"That's a little sad, don't you think?" Steve leaned an arm on the countertop. "Howard was a brilliant scientist and one of the best men I've ever met. From what I saw at least."

Diana let out a humorless chuckle. "I would love to see you say that in front of Tony. I think he would roll his eyes so hard he'd give himself a headache."

That got a snicker out of the Captain's mouth. It felt good knowing that she helped him laugh, even for a little bit. "So, can you actually see the tower from here?" Diana lifted her head and looked towards her windows. Steve followed her and felt his jaw go slack.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me." He heard Diana groan, and when he glanced back at her he saw she'd buried her face in her hands. It was…something alright. Dad had certainly spared no expense.

"Wow. That is…" Steve trailed off, not sure if he could be completely honest with her or not.

"Ugly."

They both grew silent, the air growing thick for a moment before they fell into a fit of laughter. Diana felt tension roll off her shoulders as she watched Steve's eyes crinkle with his smile.

"I'm sorry." Steve let out a few more chuckles, "I wasn't sure if it was okay for me to say anything bad about it." He gestured to Stark Tower in all it's bright blue glory.

Diana waved him off as she wiped away a tear. "No don't worry. I'm much subtler than my dad. He's very "in your face" about being a Stark."

"He seems to be very proud of his accomplishments. Are you not?"

"No, I am." Diana turned to face away from the windows, "I just don't like to announce to the world that I'm Tony Stark's daughter. It's hard enough dealing with those vapid gossip magazines following me around all the time. I don't want to give them anymore ammunition to use against me."

She gingerly touched the top of her teapot and when she felt that it wouldn't burn her fingers off, she began to pour tea into their waiting mugs. "Ah yes, _those_ magazines." Steve turned to face the counter as well, watching her pour. "I didn't realize they followed you around so much."

Diana stopped mid-pour. "Why? Have you seen something?"

"I might have spotted a cover at the paper stand a few weeks ago. Something about you and me."

She nearly dropped the teapot. "Us?! What did it say?"

Steve tried to wave it off. "It was just something about who you were with. Nothing crazy."

" _He's right mum."_ Jarvis piped up. A holographic screen came to life in front of them displaying several pictures of Steve and Diana walking through the streets of downtown New York. Several headlines read along the lines of " _who is the Stark heiress with?_ " or " _mystery man seen with Diana Stark!_ ".

" _If you would like, I can have these articles removed from the publication's web services, and have the legal team prepare a case for slander."_

Diana shook her hands around, "No, no, no, no. That would just make it more suspicious and look like we're hiding something."

Steve was staring at the pictures in front of them. They looked casual and relaxed next to each other. Easily talking and seeming to enjoy each other's company. Steve was honestly surprised at how…happy he looked. Did he always smile that much when they were together?

"…make sure it doesn't explode into anything else. I don't need rumors spreading around that Diana Stark is secretly dating some rich guy or whatever." Diana had been talking to her AI Jarvis, mixing half and half and a dash of sugar into her tea.

" _Of course, mum. I will ensure this doesn't spread anymore than it already has."_

He watched her let out a heavy sigh, fingers carding through her dark hair. Her eyes, chocolate brown and framed by long lashes, were turned down in what Steve thought was defeat. "I'm sorry." He muttered, catching Diana off guard.

She sat up slightly, head resting in one hand while the other cradled her tea to her chest. "What for?"

Steve shrugged, reaching for the honey. "You seem to like your privacy. Being Tony Stark's daughter doesn't give you that luxury." He popped the cap off the bear-shaped bottle and squirted out a small amount of honey into his drink. "I know what it's like to have lies spread about you. It's never easy."

"Well yeah," Diana watched him stir his drink, "but according to the press I date handsome strangers in secret. Don't think I've seen anything about me punching Hitler one or two times yet."

He held up a finger, "It was 200 times." A lazy grin fell across his lips. "And I never punched Adolf Hitler, I knocked him out. There's a bit of a difference."

Diana snorted, nearly spitting out her tea. She set down the cup and wiped at the corners of her lips, eyes glancing up to the article covers that were still hovering above the counter. It was strange to see pictures of them smiling together, and then realize that they were doing the exact same thing here in her apartment. It suddenly felt surreal. She was sharing a cup of tea and a few jokes with Captain America. But when she looked at him she didn't see the hero everyone else saw. In all those pictures all Diana could see was Steve Rogers. The guy who was surprisingly funny, and one of the easiest people to talk to. She'd never felt so comfortable sharing a space with another man before besides her father. But this didn't feel like it felt with Tony. This felt…more.

Steve took a sip of his tea and gave it a scrutinizing gaze. "What's in this stuff anyway? I taste mint."

"You've got a talented palette sir." Diana tipped her imaginary hat to him before continuing. "There is mint but there's also chamomile, passion flower and other flowers that I can't remember." She shrugged and watched him take another, more generous sip. "I'm surprised you only used honey. I thought you'd be a half and half kind of guy."

Steve set down his cup and shook his head. "No, I don't even like that stuff in my coffee. My mom did though." He sat forward, leaning his forearms on the countertop. "Whenever we had milk she would save some for her tea. And she would use so much sugar," he looked up to the ceiling, a reminiscent smile on his face, "I thought she was insane for making it so sweet. It hurt your teeth."

Diana snickered, watching as the memories passed behind his eyes. "I know she," Diana searched for the right word, "passed from tuberculosis. How old were you when it happened?"

He exhaled slowly, eyes falling to stare at the steam rising from his cup. "Eighteen. I had just graduated high school."

A warm hand gently fell to his arm. "I'm sorry." Diana gave his arm a tiny squeeze when their eyes met. Steve didn't know what else to say and instead just gave her a nod as if to say, 'thank you'. They both grew silent then, and Diana quickly drew her hand away from Steve's arm.

But Steve wanted her hand to come back to him. His skin felt cold where she'd been touching him.

Diana took in a breath, "I never got to know my mom." This got Steve to perk up a bit and she took her chance to move the subject away from his mother to her own. It was easier to talk about a dead person you never got the chance to spend time with. Diana sent him a gentle smile, turning her body towards him and cradling her tea to her chest. "She died a year after I was born. Car accident. She was in the car with my grandparents when it happened."

"And, where were you?" Steve copied her movements, turning his body to face her. He kept an arm propped up on the counter, resting his head in his hand.

"I was with my dad at my grandparent's old home in upstate New York. I think we were waiting for the others to come home so we could spend Christmas together."

Steve watched her take a few deep gulps from her tea, eyes avoiding his own and looking everywhere but at him. "I get the feeling you're more upset about it then you realize."

Diana shrugged. "I guess I am. When I think about it, it makes me feel a little angry when I realize I'll never truly know who she was." Or why she chose to inject her own womb with a possibly toxic and deadly super-soldier serum.

"How does your dad feel about it?"

"Tony?" Steve nodded a 'yes' to her and she shrugged again. "Hard to say. Dad never really talks about it. But from what I've been told, Veronica would have been the one to make him settle down."

"Veronica." Steve repeated the name to himself. "I like that name, it's nice."

Feeling playful, Diana glared at him. "What and you don't like 'Diana'?"

Steve chuckled and grinned. "No, no. I like it. It suits you, it's pretty."

Diana sipped her tea again. "Pretty, huh?"

"Yeah." His eyes fell over her face and hair, moving from feature to feature as if he was finally _seeing_ her. "Pretty."

This time when the blush creeped up her neck, Diana couldn't stop it. She felt her cheeks grow hot, and her ears as well. Where the hell had _that_ come from? She cleared her throat and took a few long drinks from her tea. Steve must have realized how different the air between them suddenly felt because he too became extremely thirsty.

Diana had to come up for air and set down her near-empty cup. She tapped her fingernail against the white ceramic trying to search for a smooth segue into a different topic. "I hope this helps you." When she looked up she saw a pair of questioning blue eyes staring back at her. "The tea," she clarified, "I hope it helps you get some good sleep tonight."

Steve nodded in understanding and glanced back down at his cup. "Do you really think I'll be needing that much sleep? Is the situation as bad as I think it is?"

"I couldn't say for sure." Diana let out a slow sigh, "But I do know Loki is playing at something. He's not your typical, run-of-the-mill terrorist. He's got a plan and an endgame. Whatever happens tomorrow…I think we just have to expect the worst."

"So, expect for the worst and hope for the best?"

Diana smiled at him, lifting her cup towards him in a small toast. "Always the optimist Steve. I knew I was keeping you around for some reason."

Steve returned the smile and the toast. "And here I thought you just kept me around for my charm and good looks." He watched her tuck a leg underneath the other, rolling up the sleeves of her long, grey shirt.

"I never said I wasn't." Once again Diana felt a blush cover her cheeks and ears. Had it always been this easy with him? Had the flirting always happened this smoothly between them? Steve either didn't notice or didn't mind the jokes and flirts. They spent the next hour easily talking and exchanging laughs in each other's company. Steve couldn't remember the last time he was able to sit down and be himself with someone. Not have to be Captain America. He could be simply him, and Diana would still be happy to be in his company. It felt good knowing that he had something like a friendship with her. It made him feel a little less alone.

All too soon the tea must have kicked in. Yawns started to interrupt their conversation more and more. Eventually Steve gave in and got up to leave with Diana following him out.

He opened the door and walked out to the hall towards his own place. "0800 tomorrow morning. There will be a car outside waiting for us." When Steve looked back, she was leaning against the door frame, hair a mess from running her fingers through it too much and eyes drooping from exhaustion. He half listened to her mention bringing an overnight bag but to not worry because all their essentials would be taken care of, etc. Honestly all Steve could focus on at that moment was how beautiful she looked. In the soft lighting of their hallway, with her cheeks flushed and her body relaxed, he'd never seen her look so beautiful before. Or had he always thought she was beautiful and only now is starting to recognize these feelings?

Steve felt himself nod despite his sudden racing heart. "Yeah. See you in the morning, Diana."

Diana smiled at him, "Good night Steve Rogers." He watched her door fall shut, heard the lock click in place. He noticed how much he liked hearing her say his name, and suddenly missed hearing her voice.

* * *

 _Review, fav and follow! Thanks for reading!_


	4. Slip

_Hello everyone! Can I just say how awesome it is to see all of these lovely new followers coming in? I'm so glad everyone is liking the story so far! I'm so terrible about criticizing myself, it sometimes becomes very difficult to accept that I've created something that is actually pretty good lol. I'll admit, I was pulling my hair out over a scene in the middle of this chapter for days. I'm still not too sure about it. But let me know if everything came together well or not. Your feedback helps me sooooo much!_

 _Alright I'll stop talking and let you get to reading. Enjoy!_

 _Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters...I only own Diana..._

* * *

The next morning Diana was packing a small bag of clothes. She had just closed the door to her apartment when her phone started to ring. Curious, the girl pulled out the device and instantly recognized the face waiting on her screen. Pepper.

Diana quickly answered, "Hello?"

" _Oh, thank god. I was afraid you wouldn't answer._ " Pepper spoke over harsh wind. Diana heard what sounded like a crowd in the background which soon went silent. She must have found a private place to have this conversation.

"Why wouldn't I answer Peps? You know I'll always answer when you call me." Diana started to walk down the stairs towards the lobby, hoping that Steve was already waiting for her.

" _I know, I know it's just…_ " The woman trailed off. Her voice shaking.

That made Diana pause on the first landing. "Pepper? Hey what's up? Is everything alright?"

" _No, no it's fine._ " Pepper tried to laugh it off, but Diana could hear her trembling still. " _I just wanted to talk to you before you got too busy. Check in, see how everything is going._ "

Diana sighed and started to walk back down the stairs. "If this is about what I think then first, you should not know any of this. Second," she paused again, "please don't worry too much. You've got a company to run now. You don't need to be fussing over me anymore Pepper. Besides, I've got a lot of good people around that will help keep me safe."

She started to move and heard Pepper let out a genuine chuckle. " _From what I hear you've got a very good friend living on the same floor as you._ "

"Oh, ha ha, did dad put you up to that one?"

Pepper laughed again, her voice losing its tremble. " _Nope that was all me. I think I'm starting to get a hang of this "sarcasm" thing you and your dad are so fond of._ "

Diana snickered as she reached the last landing. She could see the lobby and out to the street from here. Steve was already there, waiting patiently by the car that would take them to HQ. "He's a good friend Pepps." Diana smiled despite herself. "I like him. A lot."

" _Well does he feel the same?_ "

She thought back to the previous evening. The easy flirting, the comfortable laughter. The way his eyes lingered on her when she said good night. "I honestly couldn't say. I hope he does though. It'd be nice."

" _He would be crazy not to feel the same, Diana._ " Pepper let out a low sigh, the noise causing static to hum in Diana's ear. " _Honestly I think I called just to hear your voice and make sure you're alright. And don't tell me not to worry, I've known you far too long, it's second nature at this point._ "

Diana felt her chest warm up. She truly loved Pepper. The woman was the closest thing she ever had to a mother. By all accounts and purposes, Pepper Potts _was_ her mom. "Well," Diana started to slowly descend the last steps to the lobby, "it's always nice to know you've got someone to worry about you."

Pepper paused for a moment before taking in a deep breath, her voice sounding thick when she next spoke. " _Hey, don't let me keep you. I'm sure there's someplace you need to be right now."_

"Don't sweat it Pepps." Diana walked toward the exit. "I'll see you again soon, I promise."

" _You had better Diana Ren_ _é_ _e."_ The girl grinned, she used to hate it when Pepper would call her that. It almost always meant she was in trouble. Now it just brought back fond memories of a simpler time. As Diana pushed open the exit door she hung up and pocketed her phone. Steve turned at the sound of her coming out and grinned.

"Ready to work?"

* * *

"We're about 40 minutes out from home base, sir." The pilot announced to Coulson. Diana watched him from her spot next to Steve. They were driven to the New York office and quickly taken to a quinjet on top of the roof. From there the group was being flown out to a nearby remote location. Diana was a little giddy. She hadn't seen the helicarriers in action yet and couldn't wait to see one above ground.

"So," Steve's voice caught her attention, "this Dr. Banner was trying to replicate the serum they used on me?" Diana watched the screen he had in front of him where Steve had been watching a video of The Hulk on loop. She felt a small tingle of fear at the base of her spine when she heard Hulk's screams.

Phil had gotten up from his seat and moved to stand next to Steve. "A lot of people were." He glanced at Diana and caught the quick shake of her head. That must mean she hasn't told Steve about her abilities yet. Strange, but it wasn't up to Phil when Diana shared her secrets.

He continued, "You were the world's first superhero. Banner thought gamma radiation might hold the key to unlocking Erksine's original formula."

Another bellowing scream came from the video. "Didn't really go his way, did it?" Steve handed the tablet over to Diana, trusting that she would be able to handle it better than he could. She'd given him enough chances to acclimatize to new technology, but he still felt uncomfortable with it in his hands.

"Not so much." Phil answered, watching Diana quickly shut off the videos of Hulk and stashing away the tablet. "When he's not that thing though, the guy's like a Stephen Hawking."

Steve paused, unsure of who that was and looked from Phil to Diana for help. Diana didn't exactly feel like explaining who Stephen Hawking was so she shrugged, "He's just…a smart person."

The answer seemed to satisfy both Steve and Phil. Diana stood from her seat and moved towards the cockpit. She watched the water zoom past them and listened to Phil begin to fanboy.

"I gotta say," here we go, "it's an honor to meet you officially. I've sort of met you." Diana bit her lip to hold back the smile that threatened to grace her features. "I mean, I watched you while you were sleeping. I mean, I was present while you were unconscious from the ice."

Diana put her hand over her mouth, glancing back at them over her shoulder. Steve, never one to enjoy being gushed over, stood from his seat and moved to stand by her. Phil followed, trying to salvage the situation.

"You know, it's really just a huge honor to have you on board. This…"

He trailed off, at a loss for words. Diana could understand where he was coming from. She had to admit she felt the same when she first officially met Steve. Starstruck would probably be the best way to describe it. Unable to come up with the right words to tell him how amazed and humbled you were to know he was there.

Diana felt Steve on her right and crossed her arms, staring out at the water. "I hope I'm the man for the job." His voice sounded closer than she thought it should. When Diana took a quick look she saw that Steve was indeed standing next to her, but he'd also leaned a hand against the top of the cockpit. He either didn't see how close they were, or he knew and had done that on purpose.

Diana opted for the former and attempted to create a little more distance between them. For god's sake she could smell his damn cologne. Or was it soap? Either way he smelled very good and it was distracting. She tried to step to her left but when she looked, Phil had mirrored Steve's stance on that side effectively trapping her between them.

"Oh, you are." Phil nodded and looked to Diana for support.

She ignored how close she was standing to Steve, deciding that reassuring him would be a better choice then running away to the other side of the quinjet. Diana looked back and up at Steve, forgetting how damn tall he was. "Yes absolutely. You wouldn't be here if you weren't."

Steve felt a small smile creep onto his lips. It felt good hearing that from her. "We made some modifications to the uniform." Phil's voice brought him back to the present. "I had a little design input."

"The uniform?" Steve's brow creased. "Aren't the stars and stripes a little…old-fashioned?"

Phil let out a long, low breath. "With everything that's happening and the things that are about to come to light, people might just need a little old-fashioned."

The trio fell silent, Phil's words having more of an impact than any of them expected. They watched the water for a bit longer until Phil decided to take a seat and get as much rest as he could before they arrived at their destination. That left Steve and Diana standing in their same spots. Diana was afraid to breath too loud or else she would interrupt Steve's thoughts. She glanced back at him and crossed her arms over her chest,

"How does it feel?" Her voice brought him out of his head. Steve looked down at her, a question in his eyes. "I mean, how does it feel to have a mission?"

Steve stood up straight, hands falling into the pockets of his pants. He looked down at his shoes, "To be perfectly honest, I'm glad the world finally needs me again."

"It's always needed you Steve." That got his eyes to come back up to meet her own. "And sometimes that "world" isn't made up of everyone. Sometimes it's just a few people who feel something when they see you."

His eyes traveled over her face. She had her hair pulled up into a high, messy tail. Her bronze skin shined in the morning sun and the freckles on her nose and cheeks seemed more prominent than usual. "What is it that _they_ feel?"

For some reason, Diana felt that "they" in this case meant "you". Diana smiled at him, heart racing at the implications and undertones of their conversation. "Hope." Steve's face was blank save for the slight clenching of his jaw. Diana continued, "When they see you, they know that everything will be alright. They feel safe."

Steve's jaw relaxed, and his eyes softened. He found himself putting a hand against her back in a feather-light touch. "Thank you, Diana." She didn't lean away from his touch and instead leaned _into_ it. Steve didn't know what to do and kept his hand in place, afraid if he moved it she would run away.

"What for?" Diana asked knowing full-well what she was doing. This was the first time Steve had voluntarily touched her. Before it had been accidents when they walked too close to each other or when they were training. But this was different. His hand felt hot through the thin material of her shirt and she didn't want him to stop. She leaned into his touch more and felt her stomach flip when he didn't move it away. Instead, the hand traveled up to rest on her shoulder.

Steve found himself smiling at her, squeezing her shoulder slightly. "You always know what to say to me. It helps. A lot more than you think."

Diana chuckled, "Glad to be of some assistance, sir." She had tried to lighten the mood between them. It was getting too serious for her liking. And by serious she meant…romantic. A mess of emotions ran through her mind at that thought. Her stomach flipped, and she felt a giddy shudder creep up her throat. All the while her brain is screaming at her to step away from this and never look back.

Steve's smile relaxed. Diana's hair was long enough that even when she had it in a high ponytail, the ends could still rest on her shoulders. His eyes fell to the pieces that rested there, his fingers following. Carefully, he placed the ends of her hair between three fingers and began to stroke the soft locks.

"It's more than that, Diana."

Diana frowned and felt her heart speed up. "Steve I…"

"Ma'am." The copilot called back to her effectively stopping whatever was about to happen between them. The interruption jarred them both, and Steve quickly pulled away from her and moved back to his original seat. Diana stood still in her spot for a second longer, staring at the empty space Steve left. _What. The. Hell._

"Agent Howard." The copilot again. Diana shook her head and decided to save that memory under the "come back to this later" file in her brain.

"What is it?" She asked him, her voice coming out much hoarser than she'd intended.

"Someone is trying to contact you. They wouldn't give a name but insisted on speaking with you."

Diana nodded, "Right. Yeah I'll…take it over here." She was still a little rattled by whatever had just passed between her and Steve. Numbly, she walked over to the terminal Phil had previously been sitting at. Cell phones didn't work in the quinjet—something about radio interference—and all calls had to come by satellite through specific channels. Diana sat down and put the headset over her ears, adjusting the mic. She had no idea who would be trying to contact her. The channels available here were only open to S.H.I.E.L.D personnel. And who from S.H.I.E.L.D would want to talk to her right now when she was about to be at mobile HQ?

The computer did a quick scan of her face and unlocked, greeting her with a "Welcome back Agent Howard". She saw a "call waiting" symbol at the bottom right of the screen and pressed it. A connection was quickly made, and Diana was soon greeted by a face she hadn't seen in several months.

"Dad."

Tony Stark was on the other end of the call, sipping a drink and reading over a thick stack of papers. When he heard her voice he perked up, setting his drink and homework aside. " _Oh my god it actually worked. Jarvis, file that procedure for future reference._ "

"Wait." Diana held up her hands, "Did you…hack into S.H.I.E.L.D's satellites? Just to call me?"

Tony shrugged, " _Well I had to get a hold of you somehow_." He ignored Diana burying her face in her hands and continued. " _I also needed to give you your birthday present since I finally finished it._ "

Diana lifted her head and glared at him. "My birthday is seven months from now."

" _Ah-ah_ ," he held up a finger, " _technicalities are no fun kiddo._ "

"Please just explain what's going on before my head explodes." Diana rubbed her fingers against her temples. She loved Tony with all her heart, but there were times when his charisma became a little too much. Although a part of her didn't mind dealing with the attitude at all. A part of her welcomed the back-and-forth between them. It meant that despite the fights and the anger, he would still always be her father.

" _Alright_." Tony waved a hand over the screen, his image shrinking to a corner and several images popping up in it's place. Diana felt her jaw go slack. It was a blueprint of her armor. Two blueprints. The first was of her original design. It was simple and functional, with a few armor plates and her added arc-reactor fueled gauntlets. The second, was her design again but it had been modified. " _I know you prefer speed over strength, but I can't let my kid go out there without a little extra protection._ "

The second design kept the same basic style as the first. Only now the entire suit was made from the same titanium alloy Tony used in his suits. The vibranium plates were still attached to the new suit, however. Diana was momentarily glad for that. Her suit plates and Steve's shield were the only known vibranium in existence. It was a precious metal to lose.

They had discussed in passing once that she should get an iron suit like his own. But Diana was afraid the design would hinder her movement. She preferred speed over strength, and usually only fought hand-to-hand. Somehow Tony had designed the suit to be as form fitting as possible while still providing loads of extra protection. It was black-her preferred armor color-and at the center of the belt sat a small arc reactor much like Tony's. Lines of fiber optic cable snaked out from the arc reactor, running up the legs and chest, down the arms and back.

" _You'll be able to power your entire suit now. It should also give you an extra boost in speed when running and jumping should you ever feel so inclined._ " Diana zoomed in on the knee joints of the suit where she spotted small but high-powered hydraulics. She looked at the other joints, the elbows and hips, and found similar hydraulics.

"Dad this is…"

" _I know, I know. I'm a genius._ " He was. Truly and honestly, he was. Diana was speechless. The suit was perfect. Better than anything she'd ever been able to come up with.

Diana brought Tony's image back to the center of her screen. "You really didn't have to go through the trouble of making this. My other suit was fine."

Tony shook his head, " _I wasn't going to let my daughter go out on dangerous missions without the best equipment possible. Besides those S.H.I.E.L.D engineers lack vision._ "

Diana chuckled as she looked back at the suit. According to the blueprints, she would just wear the belt and activate it when she needed the suit to cover her body. It reminded her a lot of Tony's Mark V armor. She glanced over the specs of her new gauntlets. They would still act the same way as her original design, only now Tony added the same power to her boots. There was no face mask however. The metal would curve up the neck, stopping at the base of her head, covering her chin protectively.

She sat back and tilted her head, scrutinizing the colors and overall design. "It's kind of…Tron-ish."

" _Well_ ," Tony shrugged, " _I wasn't going to build you a virtual world anytime soon. The least I can do is get you the right attire before you enter the Grid._ "

Memories of staying up late to watch the movie Tron with her father, eating popcorn and snowcaps and any other kind of junk food came flooding to the front of her thoughts. It was their favorite movie, and they tried to watch it at least once a year together.

Diana felt her heart sink. After all this time she was expecting Tony to still be furious with her. In reality, he simply wanted to know that she was safe. Diana locked eyes with him and smiled, "Thanks dad. Really I…"

" _Don't get all gushy with me kiddo._ " Tony waved his hand and the images went with it. " _I got Phil to stash your suit in the armory of that helicarrier. Can't wait to meet your new "friend" as well. I hear he's something special._ "

Her stomach dropped. "You talked to Pepper. What exactly did she say to you?"

" _I don't know what you're talking about. Sorry kiddo, there's some interference with the signal. Gotta go, bye!_ "

"No, no wait Da—" The feed cut out before she could get him to stay on the line. Knowing Tony, there wasn't any "interference" and he most certainly had talked to Pepper. Diana ripped the headset off her ears and suppressed a groan. She was beyond excited to try on her new suit, but now she was terrified of what her dad would say when he met Steve. They weren't even dating! Why would he get so worked up over nothing?

Diana stood up and moved towards the pilots. "How much longer?" She asked them, leaning down to glance at their machines.

"ETA 25 minutes." The pilot answered, and Diana had to suppress another groan. She hated waiting. And now she was nervous. Wonderful.

She turned and made her way back to her original seat next to Steve. When she sat down she felt his eyes on her and turned to face him. "When you meet my dad, he might say some things. Whatever he says, try not to let it bother you."

Steve gave her a questioning look. "Why? What would he say?"

Diana waved her hand around. "Nothing important. Just keep in mind that he can be…a lot when you first meet him."

With a shrug Steve answered. "If he's anything like his father I think I could handle it."

"I really, truly hope so Rogers. For both our sakes."

* * *

Their landing was smooth and painless. Diana waited next to Steve and Phil as the ramp lowered and they had access the leave their ride. Eager to see the helicarrier, Diana was the first to step down off the ramp.

"Stow the Captain's gear." She heard Phil order a crewman. Looking around she saw multiple other fighter jets and quinjets sitting and waiting patiently for their pilots. Crew members wearing vests and helmets ran back and forth, all preparing for their inevitable departure.

"Hey there Sparky." Diana looked behind her and felt a large smile fall across her face.

"Tasha." Natasha Romanoff, Diana's field trainer and close friend, stood with her hands on her hips. Her hair was much shorter than the last time they'd seen each other. However, Natasha still sported her natural, scarlet red. Diana ignored protocol and closed the distance between them, wrapping her arms around Natasha's shoulders in a tight hug.

If Diana ever had a big sister, she hoped that big sister would have been like Natasha. Extremely loyal and protective, and always there to lend some sage advice. Natasha may have only been a few years older than Diana, but she'd experienced a lot more hardship. Diana admired the woman for having come out of her rough past on top. Natasha returned the hug before pulling away. "I heard a rumor you've got a new suit waiting in the armory. I guess Tony gave-in and accepted you working for S.H.I.E.L.D?"

Diana grimaced. "Not entirely. I think he just wants me to be safe. And I'll never say no to new tech so, I'm excited to try it on."

Natasha glanced behind her shoulders. "You brought him then? How did you convince him to join us?" Diana followed the red-head's eyes to Steve as he and Phil came towards them.

"I can be persuasive," she looked back and grinned at her friend, "when I want to be."

With an elbow to her side Diana moved out of the way so Natasha could finally and properly meet the Captain. Phil led Steve to the two agents. "Agent Romanoff, Captain Rogers."

Steve gave Natasha a respectful nod. "Ma'am."

"Hi." Natasha played it like she wasn't too excited to see him, but Diana knew better. Everyone was excited to see Captain Rogers. Even super spies. Natasha looked at Phil, "They need you on the bridge. They're starting the face-trace."

Phil quickly left the group to start his tasks. Diana felt her jaw clench, knowing that the face-trace was meant to find Clint. She watched Natasha for a moment, wondering how the woman was taking the news of Barton being compromised. They were far closer then Diana was to either, although both had trained her and partnered up with her on several missions in the past.

Diana fell into step next to Steve as Natasha started up light conversation with him. "It was quite the buzz around here, finding you in the ice. I thought Coulson was going to swoon." Diana was still surprised he didn't faint. "Did he ask you to sign his Captain America trading cards yet?"

Steve's eyes shot over to Natasha and then to Diana. "Trading cards?" Diana hadn't said anything about trading cards.

"They're vintage." Natasha answered, "He's very proud."

A buzz started to fall over the helicarrier's surface. Activity seemed to be picking up faster and faster. "Dr. Banner." Steve's voice caught Diana's attention. When she looked up, she saw Doctor Bruce Banner spinning in circles near a fighter jet looking very out of place. When the doctor heard Steve call to him, he stopped and instantly recognized who it was.

Bruce quickly moved to join the others, finally feeling a sense of calm after being thrust onto this chaotic helicarrier. Steve and Bruce shook hands and Diana fell back to stand next to Natasha.

"How was India?" Diana lightly quipped, knowing it was Natasha that got to recruit Banner.

"Wonderful." The spy answered, "It went better then any of us expected."

Diana looked to her friend and searched the woman's face. When she found what she'd been looking for, she chuckled. "He scared you, didn't he?"

Natasha let out a deep breath. "It wasn't the best joke. Timing was a little…off."

"You pointed a gun at him."

"I pointed a gun at him."

The agents exchanged looks before snickering with each other. "Did you tell Rogers about the thing?" Natasha nodded to the helicarrier.

Diana grinned, "I might have kept a few things out. Honestly I'm curious what he'll say about it." She looked back towards Steve, eyes falling over his shoulders and back. Natasha watched Diana watch the Captain and grinned to herself. Diana was not very good at hiding her feelings, at least not to the trained eye.

Banner gestured to the activity surrounding them. "It must be strange for you, all of this."

Steve followed where Bruce was looking. "Well," he let out a sigh of relief, "this is actually kind of familiar."

"Gentlemen," Natasha stepped forward, an eager grin on her face, "you might want to step inside in a minute. It's going to get a little hard to breathe."

" _Flight crew secure the deck."_

Crewmen began scrambling to lock down and secure all vehicles and loose items. A frenzy of movement and energy grew around them, excitement bubbling up in Diana's stomach.

"Is this a submarine?" Steve asked, looking to Diana for an answer. All she did was smile and shake her head.

"Really?" Bruce let out a humorless chuckle. He and Steve walked towards the edge of the helicarrier looking down at the water beneath them. "They want me in a submerged, pressurized, metal container?"

As if to answer his question, the engines came to life. Water began to swirl faster and faster, revealing a large turbine beneath it's surface. The men looked to their left and then their right finding more turbines swirling and coming to life. That's when they felt the helicarrier start to liftoff. It was slow and powerful, seawater misting into the air as the turbines turned faster and faster. Soon, the helicarrier had risen above the surface of the water and only continued to rise higher and higher.

Bruce smiled. A laugh-less, uneasy smile. "Oh no, this is much worse."

* * *

Natasha led them to the bridge. Once there, she broke off to assist in the facial sweeps. Diana couldn't help but marvel at the systems and design of the bridge. She'd seen blueprints and concepts of the helicarriers but given that this is the first of its kind to be built it was a pretty big deal to be on one. Diana caught eyes with Maria Hill and sent her a nod in greeting. They'd exchange pleasantries later once things had calmed down a bit. For now, the bridge crew was monitoring the helicarriers flight path.

Agents called out from every corner of the bridge.

"Hover power check complete. Position cyclic. Increase collective to eight-point-zero-percent."

"Preparing for maximum performance takeoff. Increase output to capacity."

"Power plant performing at capacity. We are clear."

Diana watched Steve as he slowly examined the bridge, a smile of pure awe on his face.

"All engines operating." Maria Hill, second-in-command, called up to Fury who was standing at the helm. "S.H.I.E.L.D Emergency Protocol one-nine-three-point-six in effect. We are at level, sir."

Nick looked down at her from his raised position at the helm. Four screens surrounded him, two on each side, showing readouts and updates of every system on the helicarrier. "Good." Nick's voice was calm and collected, "Let's vanish."

"Engage retro-reflection panels." Hill looked to an agent at the far side of the room. Diana had stepped up behind Fury, curiously gazing at the screens. She watched a real-time display of the reflection panels come to life one by one.

"Reflection panels engaged."

Diana wanted to drool. The tech in here was beyond phenomenal. She wanted to get her hands on the command screens but refrained herself from touching them. Maybe later she could find an empty terminal and play around with the systems. She wanted to know how this baby ran so smoothly.

"Gentlemen." Fury finally greeted Steve and Bruce. He sent a nod in greeting towards Diana as she leaned against the large, bolted down conference table behind the helm. Steve, who had come to stand next to her, walked up to Fury and dug through his pockets. He pulled out a wad of bills, selecting a ten and handed it to Fury, still awestruck at what he was seeing.

Diana held back a snicker and moved to follow Steve. His eyes swept over every inch of the bridge. "I never thought I would see anything like this."

Crossing her arms, she gently elbowed his side. "I had a feeling you would like it. Sorry for not telling you about it earlier. I wanted you to be surprised."

Steve glanced over his shoulder, watching Banner and Fury exchange greetings. "Surprised is putting it lightly."

"Once we get our hands on the Tesseract," they overheard Fury say to the doctor, "you're in the wind."

"Where are you with that?" Banner asked, and Nick pointed over to Phil who'd just finished a conversation with a few of his agents.

"We're sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet." Phil answered, feeling Steve and Diana join the group. "Cell phones, laptops…if it's connected to a satellite, it's eyes and ears for us."

"That's still not gonna find them in time." Natasha remarked from her kneeled position next to an agent's terminal.

Diana's hands fell to her hips, "Wouldn't that be too wide of a search area?"

"She's right." Bruce stood up from his leaned position against the railing. "You need to narrow your field. How many spectrometers do you have access to?" He looked to Fury for an answer.

Fury shrugged, not a scientist but fully prepared to give the doctor access to as many as he needed. "How many are there?"

Bruce's mind visibly began to work faster and faster. "Call every lab you know. Tell them to put the spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays." He pulled off his suit jacket, rolling it into a ball as he continued, "I'll rough out a tracking algorithm, basic cluster recognition. At least we could rule out a few places. Do you have somewhere for me to work?"

The question was for Nick who quickly turned to Natasha. "Agent Romanoff, could you show Dr. Banner to his laboratory, please?"

"Of course." Natasha got up and led the doctor away leaving the others to resume their posts. Diana took this chance to find her new suit. She quickly excused herself, not noticing the lingering stare Steve sent after her as she left the bridge.

Diana eventually found her way to the armory where her dad had said he left her new suit.

She walked through the doors, facial recognition letting them open automatically to her. It was a fairly large space. To the left she found standard issue weapons and armor and benches lined up in front of a row of lockers, each labeled with an agent's name. To her right were the special ammunitions. This was probably meant for her and the rest of the candidates for the "Avengers Initiative". Each candidate had their "room" that housed their special equipment. Diana quickly spotted hers. It was in between Tony's and Steve's.

Silently, she walked up to the door, facial recognition once again allowing her entry. The doors came open and she suddenly felt like a kid on Christmas. Two wings on her left and right housed pistols, rifles, grenades, and other various weapons. Waiting for her at the end between the two wings, was her new suit.

It didn't look like much. There was a pair of knee high boots, gloves and a one-piece catsuit folded up on the shelf. Sitting next to the shelf, was what Diana had really came down here for. She heard the door shut behind her and quickly began to change.

She eagerly eyed the belt. It was a gunmetal color, shining up at her proudly. The buckle glowing bright blue as the arc reactor quietly hummed.

First, Diana lifted the catsuit from the shelf. It was made from a breathable and flexible material. Diana recognized it as the same material her dad wore beneath his suit.

Quickly, Diana changed into the under suit. It hugged her form tightly but was easy to move in and comfortable on its own. She slipped on the shoes, wiggling her toes around to get a feel for the soft leather. The gloves came next. They were open fingered and had armored knuckles. They fit perfectly. Nice and snug. She bounced around in her new suit, adjusting to the shoes and getting a feel for the material. Finally, Diana turned to the belt. This was what she truly wanted to try on.

The belt at first felt like it wouldn't fit, it hung loosely around her hips and did little else. However as if it could hear her concerns about the fit, the belt seemed to come to life and formed itself around her hips. "Whoa." Diana grinned, Tony had really outdone himself.

The sound of footsteps coming closer alerted her. Diana froze, unsure what she should do or say. She wasn't doing anything illegal or against any orders. In fact, as of right now she hadn't gotten any yet.

"Diana?"

 _Steve?_ She moved to the door, opening it up and stepping through. Steve-sans leather jacket-looked back. At first when he spotted her he started to smile, however once he saw what she was wearing, his smile fell.

"Um," he swallowed, his throat suddenly very dry. "What are you wearing?"

Diana held out her arms and turned in a circle as she moved closer to him. "What do you think? My dad designed me a new suit. I haven't tried out the armor yet but, that can wait for a field test. I'm sure it'll work fine."

Steve felt his eyes going everywhere. The suit was tight. Very, very tight. It left little to the imagination. He could see the curve of her hips, the dip in her waist line. As she lifted her arms up and down he saw her muscles tighten and loosen. Steve cleared his throat and forced himself to look at her eyes. "It's really…black."

Diana snickered at him, "Yes, it is. Dad knows I prefer the color for my armor. I'm not a "hot rod red" person like he is." She expected him to chuckle, or grin. Something. But all Steve did was stare at her. Like a deer in headlights. "Um…Steve?"

She waved her hand in front of his face. That seemed to wake him up from whatever daze he'd fallen into. "Yes?" His voice was shaking.

Diana's brow creased. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." He quickly turned away from her, eyes falling over the armory. He saw heavy weapons at the end of the room, as well as heavier armor for the ship's crew.

"Right." Diana really didn't believe him. He kept avoiding her eyes, always choosing to look somewhere else in the room. "So there's no reason why you're acting funny right now?"

"Funny?" Steve nervously laughed, but Diana could see he was hiding something. "Funny how?"

"Come on Rogers, I'm a spy." She crossed her arms, resting all her weight on one leg. "You can't hide everything from me. Something is bothering you."

"Nothing's bothering me. Why would anything be bothering me?" Where his hands trembling?

Diana glared. "Steve. Don't make me actually start to interrogate you. It won't end in your favor."

"Would you like some coffee?" He suddenly asked. Diana gave him a confused stare. His hands were actually shaking now.

"What?"

Steve attempted to explain. "Not right now. Later. After this whole thing is done and we're back in New York. Would you like to get coffee? Just me and you?"

Diana put her hands to her hips. "Steve we can get coffee now…? There's a mess hall with a fully stocked cafeteria. Come on, you'll love it." She started to walk away to lead them. The idea of food making her become eager.

His hand suddenly shot out, grabbing hold of her wrist. "Diana no, I just…" His voice faded, and he suddenly became very interested in their shoes.

"Steve?" His grip on her was strong and he desperately held onto her. "Jesus, what's wrong?"

A heavy breath escaped his lips before he worked up the courage to meet her eyes again. "I want to take you out. On a date-a real date. I want to get to know you the right way. No S.H.I.E.L.D, no training or interrogations. Just us."

Diana's heart started to race, and her knees felt like they'd turned to jelly. "A date. Like, dinner and a movie and you walk me to my door and there's the awkward moment of "should we kiss or not?"? That kind of date?"

"I haven't really thought that far ahead." Steve admitted, the corners of his lips turning up. "Didn't realize you were planning the date already."

Her eyes went wide. "N-No that's…" Her voice cut off, nerves overtaking it. She stared at Steve for a moment longer, swallowing a lump in her throat. "We can't."

"Why not?" His eyes looked from her lips back up a few times. And when did he get so close? And why wasn't she pulling away from him?

"There are," her eyes fell to his lips, "rules—protocol—that I have to follow. No matter how much I want to."

He took a step forward and she took one back. Their faces drawn together like magnets until Diana's back hit the wall. "What protocol?"

God the air was thick. Diana was having a hard time breathing. Her chest pumped up and down and her heart beat faster and faster. "You're…I can't get close to you. And there are things about me you don't know. Things that would make you see me differently."

Steve refused to pull away. He could feel her breath fan over his face. She smelled like coffee and cinnamon. "Diana, I realize what your job is. It doesn't scare me away."

"It's not that." Her palms pressed against the wall. "There's something I haven't told you—something I should have said months ago…"

"Diana." He stopped her. His eyes locked with her own. "Last time I felt like this for someone, I waited too long and lost my chance." Was he talking about Peggy?

"You don't understand. I promised you no more secrets, and I've been lying about something this whole time."

"We should table this discussion for later." His hand cam up to cup her cheek. "Right now, I just really want to kiss you."

Diana let out a shaky breath. "Promise me you won't regret this Rogers."

"I promise."

Their lips crashed together, sloppy and out of practice, both were fumbling through the contact. There was no build up, no slow movements. They moved fast and eagerly grabbed for each other. Months of built-up tension and attraction finally came to a head. Steve wrapped his arms around her, pulling her flush against him, feeling her body fold into his own. Diana moaned into the kiss, snaking her arms around his neck and carding her fingers into his short hair. He kissed her like she wasn't going to be there when he pulled away. Like he was going to lose her in the next few seconds.

His hands traveled down her back, over her butt and to her thighs. Diana jumped up, legs wrapping around his waist and felt Steve back her up until her spine connected with the wall. One hand squeezed her thigh while the other grabbed hold of her waist. His chest was solid and warm, and his lips were like fire. Diana's hips rolled, and she felt something hard meet her center. Steve froze for a half second before he groaned and bucked his hips upward causing Diana to let out a tiny whimper. God but his lips were addicting. He tasted sweet and his lips were soft and warm and _on her_. He pushed her head to the side, trailing kisses and bites down her neck and back up to her lips again. It was like he couldn't get enough of her. Diana rubbed her core over him again, the thin material of her suit letting her feel _everything_. Steve answered right back with another hard thrust, his pants growing tighter by the second.

" _Agent Howard."_

Fury's voice in her ear made her freeze. Steve must have heard it too because he stopped and stared at her, his blue eyes darker than normal. Diana quickly regulated her breathing and answered as casually as she could.

Pressing the communicator in her ear she spoke. "Sir?" Good, she didn't sound like she had just been in the middle of a _very heated make-out session with Captain America_.

" _We've got a hit. Is Rogers with you?"_

She felt her cheeks flush. It was like he knew what they'd been doing. But he didn't know—couldn't know. "Yes."

" _Lead him to the armory, get him his suit. Then get to the launch pad and find Romanoff. You leave in five."_

His voice cut out, silence once again falling over them. Diana's hand gently fell to Steve's shoulder and she began to untangle her legs from around his waist. Steve took her cue and helped get her feet back to the ground, though he didn't move away from her.

"There's been a hit. We gotta get your suit and then we'll meet Tasha on the landing pad. We move out in five." She started to walk around him but his hand on her arm made her stop.

"Diana." When she looked back up at him he continued, "I meant what I said. I don't want to lose my chance again. Not with you."

She couldn't help but smile. "I hope you really mean it. Truly." When she looked up and met his eyes, she found a blush on his cheeks. He was smiling back at her, genuinely. She felt his hand trace up her arm, the other gripping the curve of her waist. Diana bit her lip and leaned forward, letting her forehead fall against his chest. What the hell was she doing? Her heart was telling her to let it happen. To go along with her feelings. But her mind kept racing. And the one singular word that kept sticking out to her was _protocol_ , _protocol_ , _protocol_.

Diana suddenly stood up, taking in a deep breath through her nose. "Alright, let's get your suit." She began to walk away, feeling Steve fall in step next to her. "That thing I need to tell you? Remind me to tell you later. When there isn't a half-crazed god running loose."

"Right." Steve nodded, "And uh sorry about…"

"Don't be sorry about that—please." Diana held out a hand as they came upon his armory. "It was…really good."

Steve's eyes lit up. "Really?" He cleared his throat. "I mean it's just…been so long."

"Right no—yeah." Diana pointed to a door that would lead to a small armory. "Just head through there, the door should be open."

He walked past her, and Diana took the momentary solace to put her hands to her knees. She bent over and let out a few deep breaths. What the hell just happened? She wasn't going to deny that it felt good, great, amazing. She would also never deny that she hadn't dreamed about that happening once or twice in the past. But it _happened_. Steve kissed her. For real. Diana couldn't be sure if this was just a purely physical thing or if there was something else. They didn't exactly have time to step back and fan out their feelings.

Of course, Diana was attracted to him. Who wouldn't be? And if Steve wanted to kiss her, and kiss her like _that_ , then it must mean he was attracted to her too. Right? Diana stood up straight, hands on top of her head. Her heart was beating rapidly, she could hear it thumping and thumping and thumping. She tried to tell herself that this was purely physical. It was…adrenaline or nerves. She was his closest ally in this entire mess. He spent the most time with her after waking up. It made sense that he would feel some kind of obligation towards her.

But that kiss didn't feel like he was repaying a debt. That kiss felt like a _real_ kiss. An I'm-so-attracted-to-you kind of kiss. Diana didn't know what to do. She wanted to see if this could go further but she also knew that if it did, it would be incredibly dangerous for both her and Steve. Attachments on missions caused people to make bad decisions. Attachments between agents almost always led to heartbreak.

And there was the part that she didn't get to tell him. How the hell would she even say it?

" _Hey guess what? I'm a super-soldier like you! My grandfather promised everyone he destroyed the last of your blood, but he lied and kept samples for himself, synthesized it and created a new serum. Without it, I wouldn't be here right now! Okay great let's make out some more!"_

Diana groaned and held her face in her hands. Why did she have to be attracted to him? Why couldn't she have fallen for some tech engineer. Or a doctor.

* * *

 _ **Stuttgart, Germany  
May 2, 2012**_

Diana had only ever been to Berlin. She really enjoyed the city and its people. It was too bad her second visit to the country involved stopping a raving mad god from terrorizing the world. Natasha sat in the copilot's seat, flipping on their quinjet's stealth systems.

"Diana, let me take point on this." Diana glanced up at Steve. It was strange seeing him in the red white and blue suit. But it fit him nicely. Literally and figuratively.

"You don't need to protect me." Diana adjusted her belt one final time and then pressed the center of her buckle. The entire belt came to life, folding up and out, covering every inch of her body. The metal traveled up to the base of her head until it stopped, arc reactor humming to life. The fiber optic cables flickered on, powering up her gauntlets and boots.

Steve admired the armor now covering Diana's body. It moved and folded with her, causing little to no restriction. He could see that she indeed did not need his protection. However…

"I know that Diana." He reached out a gloved hand, placing it on her shoulder. "But didn't you notice it too? S.H.I.E.L.D found Loki way too easy. He's not even hiding."

Diana nodded. He was right. Loki was out in the public at a gala in Stuttgart. In a tux of all things. He was either very stupid or he knew exactly what he was doing. And Diana was leaning more towards the latter. "Fine." She agreed, surprising herself when she grabbed hold of his hand. "But I'll be right behind you."

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Steve grinned at her, fighting the urge to lean down and plant a quick kiss to her lips. He had the feeling she didn't want to be very public about…whatever was going on between them. His mind flashed back to the armory. He honestly wasn't expecting to kiss her like that. But it sort of…happened. Maybe he was too afraid to take his time. Afraid that if he waited too long like he has in the past, he would lose Diana before they even had a chance. He knew there was something she wanted to talk to him about, but at this point, Steve already knew who she was. Whatever Diana had done in her past didn't matter to him. He cared about the woman that was standing in front of him right now. He couldn't concern himself with whatever she'd done before they met. It didn't change anything.

"Alright boys and girls." Natasha called to them from her spot in the copilot's seat. "Stealth systems engaged. We are now right above Loki's location."

Diana moved to the front of the jet, looking out the windows to a large square. There were cars and buses passing by, but the square itself had been blocked off for the gala. Diana spotted the museum and immediately saw a crowd of people running out of the building. Then she saw him. "Loki." Diana's mouth fell into a thin line. He was sauntering after the crowd, golden light covering him momentarily as golden armor and a matching, horned helmet followed.

"He doesn't seem to understand the term, "subtly is key", does he?" Steve mused next to her. They watched as four Loki clones formed around the plaza, trapping the crowd out of fear.

"Damnit. Do we have audio?" Natasha switched a few buttons around in answer, tapping in to people's cell phones and other security cameras. Loki's voice poured in through the speakers at them.

" _Is this not your natural state? It's the unspoken truth of humanity, that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power, for identity. You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel._ "

They saw that he'd gotten the crowd down on their knees, frightened and terrified. Diana felt her jaw clench. "I'm getting really tired of his monologues."

She watched a lone, elderly man stand up on shaking legs. " _Not to men like you._ " He said, bravely facing down Loki who towered over him.

"Damnit. Steve." She didn't have to say anything else, Steve was already moving to the back of the quinjet.

"Once you get the crowd out we'll move in." Natasha called back to them. They didn't answer her, too focused on getting the ramp open so they could get to the ground before Loki killed anyone.

Steve jumped first followed by Diana. They were only hovering above ground by a few hundred feet, so it was a quick drop. Diana aimed for the back of the crowd, her suit's active camouflage coming to life the closer she got to the ground. Steve couldn't worry about her now and trusted that she knew what she was doing. The Captain landed smoothly, blocking an incoming shot from Loki's scepter. His shield sent the blast right back to Loki, knocking the god off his feet.

"You know," Steve stood up slowly, "the last time I was in Germany, and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing." As he spoke, Steve closed the distance between him and Loki. A few people stood up, trying to see who had saved them and others not believing their eyes.

Loki leaned up on his hands and knees. "The soldier. The man out of time." He slowly stood back up using his scepter to lean against.

Steve couldn't help but grin at him. "I'm not the one who's out of time."

Diana took her chance, leaping out from the crowd she tried to grab the scepter from Loki's hands. He must have sensed her coming at him. He whirled around, swinging his weapon in a wide arc. Diana ducked and slid on her knee past him. She stopped, turned and kicked at his shins, hard. Loki fell to the ground with a loud yelp. Good, she could hurt him.

Standing up to join the Captain, Diana pressed her fingers to her palms, activating her gauntlets. The lights of her new suit glowed brighter for a moment, making her look like a beacon in the dark plaza. "Stay down Loki." Her voice was commanding and stern. "You don't want this fight."

Loki started to laugh. He stood back up, wide-toothed grin aimed at her. "The child. You overestimate yourself, _girl_."

"Don't be too sure of that." Diana replied, hearing the quinjet swing around above them.

" _Loki_ ," Natasha's voice echoed over the jet's loud speakers, " _drop the weapon and stand down._ "

The golden clad god glanced at his scepter before lifting it up and shooting at the jet. It missed, and the crowd fell into chaos. Steve threw his shield at Loki, it bounced off but managed to knock Loki back a few steps. Steve ran at Loki, catching his shield mid-air and engaging with the god up-close.

Diana pushed people away. "Gehen!" She shouted at them, using the few words of German she knew. "Lauf!" By the time the plaza was cleared, Steve had lost his shield and was still fighting Loki one-on-one.

Loki swung his scepter high, Steve ducked backwards, catching himself before he fell over. Steve stood back up and sent a punch into Loki's side. It angered Loki and he answered by backhanding the Captain away with his scepter. It sent Steve flying. Diana watched him fall several feet away.

She found her opening. Diana ran for Loki, watching him shove the end of his spear against Steve's helmeted head. "Kneel." Loki growled.

Steve knocked the spear off him. "Not today!" He pushed Loki back kicking him in the stomach. Loki stumbled, catching himself before he felt a new set of boots ram into his side. Loki groaned and fell away and when he looked up, Diana had joined Steve.

"It's over goldilocks." Her gauntlets sparked to life. Loki growled at her, running straight at the girl. Diana braced her feet and caught Loki as he tried to push her down with his spear. Loki pushed and pushed, causing Diana to slide backwards but she didn't slip. Diana groaned and planted her feet, making the god stop in his tracks. He froze at the show of sudden strength but kept pushing, Diana's boots causing the concrete to crack where she pushed back.

Diana's gauntlets sparked, and she grinned. With a small amount of pressure, they flashed brightly, blinding Loki and forcing him to stand back, covering his eyes from the light. Diana took her chance and punched Loki hard in the side, hearing him let out a pain-filled growl.

Natasha watched from the jet. She had the weapons online, but she couldn't get a clear shot of Loki. Not without risking Diana or Steve. "They're all over the place." Natasha grimaced as she watched Diana get thrown back by a powerful swing from Loki. Steve came back and tried to hold him down.

The spy looked at her equipment for help, trying to figure out some way she could help them. Then the screens started to pixelate and fizzle out.

" _Agent Romanoff, you miss me?_ "

Diana jumped in front of Steve, blocking Loki's scepter from coming down on him. She held it with all her strength. It was infuriating how strong this guy was. Diana never had to fight someone stronger than her. She…

Why could she hear AC/DC's "Shoot to Thrill"?

The music made everyone stop, even Loki. Diana looked back and saw a small, bright line of fire coming towards them. She couldn't help but grin. Dad really knew how to make an entrance.

Using dad's distraction, Diana pushed the scepter up and kicked Loki back a few steps. Tony didn't give the god time to find his feet again. He flew in hot, shooting Loki in the chest. It was enough to knock him onto his back. Tony landed, his suit's entire weapons system activating at once.

The song came to an end with a long note and a final chord. "Make your moves reindeer games." Diana had to admire her dad's impeccable timing. She moved to stand to her dad's right, gauntlets sparking brightly. Steve had recovered his shield and stood to Tony's left, breathing heavy from the fight.

Loki must have known he was now outmatched. From his seated position, he raised his hands in surrender, his armor fading away magically. "Good move." Tony commented, his weapons systems powering down, though he kept his combat interface online just to be safe.

They gave each other short greetings. "Mr. Stark." Steve still didn't want to take his eyes off the god. He heard the quinjet begin to lower down behind them.

"Captain." Tony looked over his shoulder at Rogers before turning his head towards Diana. "Agent Howard—or is that Agent Stark? I'm sorry I can't seem to get it right."

Diana heard the ramp of the quinjet lower behind them. Natasha would be out soon, and they would place Loki on the jet. Diana flicked her wrists, gauntlets powering down, though the fiber optics stayed on. She looked to her dad, finding it strange to talk to an iron mask.

"Good to see you too." She smiled at him, not sure if he was smiling back.

They got Loki onto the jet without incident. Strapping him into a seat and taking off quickly. Tony had taken off his helmet along with Steve. Diana kept her armor on and stood with them near the cockpit. Loki sat quietly at the end of the jet.

"I don't like it." Steve commented, glancing at Loki wearily.

"What, Rock of Ages giving up so easily?" Tony kept his eyes on Loki, but Diana caught the sarcasm in his voice.

She decided to ignore Tony's sarcasm and agreed with Steve. "That fight was quicker than I expected it to be."

Steve nodded at her. She was standing in between him and Tony and had decided to keep her eyes on Loki. She idly chewed her lip while she watched him, waiting for him to make the next move. "It shouldn't be that easy. This guy packs a wallop."

"Still, you are pretty spry for an older fellow." Diana's eyes fell shut and she took in a deep, calming breath. "What's your thing, Pilates?"

"Dad…" She groaned at him. She knew he was doing this because he didn't like Steve. But the teasing was not necessary. Tony always acted this way with men and Diana. Any guy she felt like dating would get teased immensely by her father. Pretty much all of them were scared off by it, and Diana did not want Steve to fall under the same category.

Tony ignored her groan and waited for the Captain to answer him. Steve gave him a confused stare. "What?"

"It's like calisthenics." Tony continued to tease him, and Diana just put her face in her hand. "You might have missed a couple of things doing time as a Capsicle."

Steve paused, opting to ignore all the comments Tony was making. It was obvious he was trying to get a reaction. Steve didn't want to give him one. "Fury didn't tell me he was calling you in." _And Diana,_ Steve thought. But she might not have known either.

"Yeah, there's a lot of things Fury doesn't tell you." Tony's eyes fell to his daughter and she looked up at him, glaring. She knew he meant her. That there were things she didn't tell Steve. But her dad had no right to dictate what she told people.

A flash of lightning followed quickly by a large boom of thunder echoed outside. Diana turned to look out the windows, watching clouds quickly gather around them. "Where is this coming from?" Natasha sounded concerned. And if Tasha was concerned then Diana should be too.

Steve glanced around, not too worried about the storm. It would probably pass over them soon. He looked back and saw Loki staring up at the roof of the jet, eyes wide with what looked like fear. "What's the matter?" His voice made the others look as well. "Scared of a little lightning?"

Loki glanced at him, hands curling into tight fists. "I'm not overly fond of what follows."

What? Thunder? Diana wasn't sure if he was being literal or metaphorical. What could he be afraid of? As if to answer her question, there was another bright flash of lightning followed by a loud, solid thump on the roof of the quinjet. Whatever or whoever had landed on the roof landed hard. The quinjet jostled with the landing, making Steve and the Starks catch themselves from falling over.

"Yeah, not a storm." Diana commented powering up her gauntlets. She watched her dad put on his helmet and move to open the ramp of the jet. Steve had just gotten his helmet back on when he looked up to find Tony moving toward the edge of the ramp.

"What are you doing?" He called over the sounds of the storm and winds. Tony didn't get to answer. A man clad in armor and a red cape landed on the open ramp. His hair, blonde and swirling in the wind mixed with his angry grimace making him look very unfriendly. This man was _not happy_.

Tony powered up his gloves and lifted his arm to aim at the new arrival. He didn't get a chance to fire. Before he could even finish powering up, the new arrival shoved what looked to Diana like an oversized hammer into Tony's chest. It sent Tony flying back into Steve and Diana, sending all three of them sprawling on the floor.

"What the…" Diana began to sit up, watching as the new arrival yanked Loki from his seat, grabbing him by the collar. His hammer began to twirl faster and faster like a propeller and he quickly flew out of the jet. Diana's jaw dropped. "He just flew away using a hammer."

Tony grunted as he stood back up. "And now there's that guy."

"Another Asgardian?" Natasha called back to them as she tried to keep the jet steady.

"Without a doubt!" Diana yelled back at her over the noise. She felt Steve stand up next to her, leaning against the wall.

"You think that guy's a friendly?"

"Doesn't matter." Tony's voice sounded hollow and metallic behind his helmet. "If he frees Loki or kills him, the Tessereact's lost." Tony moved back to the open ramp.

"Stark," Steve called to him, "we need a plan of attack!"

"I have a plan. Attack." With that, Tony jumped out of the open ramp after Loki and the new Asgardian.

"Dad! Wait!" It was all in vein. Diana shouting after Tony wouldn't bring him back. Once he had his mind set on something, he was going to finish it. Come hell or high water. She turned to the Captain. "Steve, please! I can't let him do this alone."

Steve watched her desperate eyes. She was scared. He hadn't seen her this frightened in…ever. He quickly nodded at her and grabbed two parachute packs. He threw one into her arms, not waiting for her to ask for help. Now was the time for action. Luckily Diana easily caught on to his plan and hurriedly pulled the chute on, buckling the straps as she went.

"I'd sit this one out." Natasha called back to them.

"Not happening, Tasha." Diana clipped the final buckle around her chest and moved to the back of the jet.

Steve sent Natasha a shrug and gestured to Diana. "I don't see how I can."

Natasha shook her head. "These guys come from legend. They're basically gods."

Pulling on the final straps and buckles, Steve snickered. "There's only one God, ma'am. And I'm pretty sure he doesn't dress like that." He grabbed his shield, securing it around his arm and walked to the ramp where Diana waited patiently.

He stepped up next to her, nodded and both jumped from the plane diving head first into the darkness.

* * *

 _Review, fav and follow! Thanks for reading!_


	5. Catch 22

_I am so happy everyone is enjoying the story! I was beyond nervous posting last chapter. That kiss scene had me pulling out my hair for weeks! I wasn't completely satisfied with it (and honestly I'm only about 80% satisfied with it now). I reallllly hope Steve and Diana's relationship is playing out realistically...? I'm basing a lot of their interactions off of me and my fiance. He's my best friend and we have little jokes and teasing conversations like all the time and to me it's like super cute when couples can do that?_

 _Anyway! I realize now that Steve and Diana need a ship name! Stiana? Deve? Captain Howard? Let me know your suggestions, these babies need a ship name! Thank you so much to all the new followers, favorites and reviews! Can't wait to see how everyone reacts to the rest of the story._

 _Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters...I only own Diana..._

* * *

Diana could see the fight from the air. She spotted her dad flying around and keeping up with the Asgardian. But he couldn't last much longer on his own. He needed her. Diana's heart raced with fear. She couldn't lose him.

Her and Steve landed and while Steve moved quickly to unstrap the parachute and the other various buckles, Diana impatiently ripped the whole thing off her and took off in a desperate sprint towards the fighting.

"Diana!" Steve called after her, fumbling to pull off the last buckle. Damnit. She was acting just like her father. And here he was hoping Diana would be able to stay calm.

The hydraulics of the suit helped Diana kick her legs faster than before and she pumped hard to reach her father in time. As she got closer she could see her father get lifted and thrown to the ground on his back, the Asgardian tossing him around like he weighed nothing. He stood above Tony, reaching out a hand to the air. His hammer came to it, the Asgardian wasting no time in turning the hammer down, aiming to smash it into Tony's chest.

Tony reacted, activating his jets and shooting backwards, knocking the Asgardian over. Diana's mind raced. _Thunder, hammer, Asgardian. This must be Thor._

Thor fell over catching himself just in time before he got a face-full of dirt. Tony flew back and banked hard, coming around and catching his fist on Thor's face as the thunder god looked back at him. Diana had reached them by that point, her gauntlets coming to life. She jumped out and grabbed Thor's long red cape, knocking him off balance. She sent her powered fist into his jaw, throwing him back a few steps.

The thunder god recovered quickly. He raised his hammer, aiming to swing down at her. Diana jerked to the side and kicked, power rushing through her boots. It pushed Thor back towards Tony who already had his palms raised. Thor let out a battle cry, raising his hammer to Tony.

"Hey!" A shield flew down at them, knocking off Thor's chest followed by Tony's head until it bounced back to Steve who caught it easily. The Captain's presence got everyone to stop and Steve took his chance to end the fighting for good. "That's enough!" Diana had never heard Steve speak like that. She had to admit it was kind of a turn on.

Steve jumped down from the overturned tree he'd been standing on. "Now," he moved to stand by Diana, "I don't know what you plan on doing here."

Thor, still angry, snarled at the Captain. "I've come here to put an end to Loki's schemes."

Diana let Steve step in front of her, knowing he would use his shield to protect them if Thor wasn't done fighting yet. "Then prove it. Put that hammer down."

"Uh, yeah—no." Tony chimed in from his spot, "Bad call. He loves his hammer."

Annoyed, Thor threw back his hammer, knocking it into Tony and sending the man flying into a tree. Diana jumped up to go after him, but Steve put an arm out to stop her. "You want me to put the hammer down?" Thor screamed at them, anger twisting his face. He suddenly jumped from his spot, soaring in the air above Steve and Diana.

Diana got behind Steve, grabbing hold of his shoulders as he lifted his shield arm above their heads. They ducked down, covering their heads as they anticipated the impact of Thor's hammer to the Captain's shield.

The metals connected, and Diana saw a bright flash of light before a sound like a thousand bells echoed across the forest. A huge whoosh of power exploded from the shield and had Diana not been holding on to Steve, she'd have surely been blown back with it.

When the dust settled, and the ringing in her ears wore off, Diana stood with Steve. There was now a large clearing in the middle of the forest in a perfect circle. She heard Tony grunt as he stood up, and Thor soon followed. Either the reaction between the hammer and shield changed something, or Thor realized he was probably outmatched—if not outnumbered.

"Are we done here?" Steve panted, the effort it took to hold back Thor's strike hitting him like a ton of bricks. Thor looked around at the destruction and quietly nodded. Diana heard Steve call Natasha down, but she was too focused on one thing and one thing only.

She walked toward Tony and he greeted her with a chuckle. "Hey kiddo. You did pretty good back there!"

Diana scowled at him and sent a firm fist into his armored chest. It didn't do much besides make him loose his balance for a second. Tony noticed she hadn't put any real power behind that swing and he was grateful. "You stupid," she hit him over and over with each word, "stubborn, hot-headed, egomaniac!"

Tony held up his hands, grabbing her wrists and holding her back. "Okay only one of those is a lie and I don't appreciate it."

"Ugh!" Diana screamed, ripping her hands out of his hold and shoving a finger in his face. "Don't you ever do anything like that again. As of right now, I outrank you. From now on you listen to my orders."

She could feel his eyes roll. "Yeah right, next thing you'll be telling me is Star-boy is your bo…"

"Ah!" Diana held up her hands, stopping him from going any further. Tony knew exactly what he was about to say, and he knew it would get Diana to stop ranting. He had very good ammunition against her. Diana seethed and decided to address this issue later. When they weren't surrounded by other people.

She heard the quinjet begin to lower behind them and was grateful for the interruption. She turned and walked onto the jet without saying another word to anyone.

* * *

Diana sat next to Steve at the conference table on the bridge. Natasha sat across from them, Bruce stood at the end of the table. Thor stood to the side, eyes looking lost. She hadn't seen Tony since they landed.

With her armor off, Diana was able to comfortably sit in a chair and share a screen with Steve. Everyone but Thor was watching and listening to Fury inform Loki of his new living quarters.

" _Built for something a lot stronger than you_." Fury explained the cage.

" _Oh, I've heard."_ Loki's head turned towards the security camera everyone was watching from. His eyes easily finding all of theirs. " _A mindless beast. Makes play he's still a man. How desperate are you, that you call on such lost creatures to defend you?_ "

Diana glanced up at Bruce who just grinned. Though she got the feeling he didn't really find the comment funny.

" _How desperate am I?_ " Fury's voice echoed through the room. " _You threaten my world with war. You steal a force you can't hope to control. You talk about peace, and you kill because it's fun. You have made me very desperate. You might not be glad that you did._ "

" _Oh_." Loki was taunting him—taunting everyone. " _It burns you to have come so close. To have the Tesseract, to have power-unlimited power._ " Diana shared a look with Steve, she didn't like this at all. It still felt too easy. Loki continued, " _And for what? A warm light for all mankind to share. And then to be reminded what real power is._ "

Fury paused, his facial expression unreadable. He started to walk out of the room. " _Well, let me know if "real power" wants a magazine or something._ "

* * *

"He really grows on you, doesn't he?" Bruce sarcastically grinned as the video feed cut out.

"Loki's gonna drag this out." Steve commented, keeping everyone focused. "So, Thor, what's his play?" Diana sat up straight in her seat next to the Captain, she couldn't get the image of Loki staring at her through the camera out of her mind. He really knew how to play at his strengths. Intimidation, fear. It made her uneasy, and Diana subconsciously leaned closer to Steve, arms falling into her lap.

Thor from his spot at the end of the table answered the Captain's question. "He has an army called the Chitauri. They're not of Asgard, nor any world known. He means to lead them against your people." His arms fell to his sides as he turned to face the others. "They will win him the Earth, in return I suspect, for the Tesseract."

"An army," Steve's voice went dead, "from outer space."

Diana's head began to hurt. She rubbed at her tired eyes and sighed, "Wonderful."

"So, he's building another portal." Bruce pulled off his glasses, "That's what he needs Erik Selvig for."

Thor's brow creased with concern. "Selvig?"

Diana nodded, "He's an astrophysicist."

"He's a friend." It was all Thor would give them on the subject, but from his tense shoulders and worried eyes, they could all see that Selvig was important to the thunder god.

"Loki has him under some kind of spell." Natasha had been leaning her arms on the table and hugged them closer to her body, "Along with one of ours."

"I want to know why Loki let us take him." Steve seemed to be naturally taking on a leadership role with the gathered group. Diana felt a swell of pride while she watched him. He hadn't been this lively since he woke up. "He's not leading an army from here."

"I don't think we should be focusing on Loki." Bruce shook his head, gesturing to the now blank security feed. "That guy's brain is a bag full of cats. You could smell crazy on him."

"Have care how you speak." Thor eyed the doctor with a steady gaze. "Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard. And he is my brother."

They all heard Natasha's sharp breath. "He killed eighty people in two days."

"…he's adopted."

Bruce shrugged. "I think it's about the mechanics. Iridium…what do they need the iridium for?"

"It's a stabilizing agent." Diana's eyes shot up when she heard Tony's voice. He walked onto the bridge next to Phil, finishing up a quiet conversation before turning back to everyone else. "It means the portal won't collapse on itself like it did at S.H.I.E.L.D." He walked past Thor, "No hard feelings Point Break. You've got a mean swing."

Tony playfully slapped Thor's bare arm and continued walking toward the helm. Diana watched him carefully, he was playing at something. "Also, it means the portal can open as wide and stay open as long, as Loki wants." He'd reached the helm and started pointing out random agents. "Raise the mizzenmast. Jib the topsails."

Diana could feel everyone rolling their eyes at him. It was hard not to snicker at her father though. Strange as he was acting, this was how he used to get her to smile when they would spend hours in his workshop together.

Tony's arm suddenly shot out to his right. "That man is playing Galaga!" Everyone followed where he'd been pointing but saw nothing. "He thought we wouldn't notice, but we did." Now Tony turned his attention to the four panels at the helm. He stared at them for a moment, covering and uncovering one eye. "How does Fury even see these?"

Agent Hill, who'd been watching the entire show, crossed her arms and answered. "He turns."

"Sounds exhausting." Tony grimaced before moving to a panel to his right. He scrolled through a few menus, casually looking at ship wide status reports. "The rest of the raw materials, Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. The only major component he still needs is a power source of high-energy density. Something to kick-start the Cube."

Diana almost said something. Almost. She knew her dad far too well to not have noticed what he just did. She knew he was putting on a show for a reason. As he finished his small speech, he'd turned and planted a small device on the inside of one of the terminals at the helm. Tony's hands fell into his pockets and he acted like nothing happened. You sneaky…

"When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?" Maria asked him, arms still crossed.

"Last night. The packet, Selvig's notes, the extraction theory papers." Tony made it seem like everyone should have known about that. And they should. It was in the file. But not everyone was a super genius like Tony. He threw out his hands in disbelief, "Am I the only one who did the reading?"

Diana sat back in her chair and crossed her arms, pinching back a grin as she watched her dad. His eyes locked with hers for a second and he winked. Of course, he knew that she would figure it out. And he knew that she wouldn't say anything. Diana mentally slapped herself for letting her job come second to her family.

"Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?" Steve's voice carried a slight edge to it. Like he was growing impatient with Tony's charade. Diana had to remind herself that not everyone in this room had spent their entire lives with Tony Stark. Not everyone here was accustomed to his playful and sarcastic ways.

Diana shook her head, considering everything she knew about the Cube and what Tony had said. "If he had one," she spoke up from her seat, "he would have to heat the Tesseract to one hundred and twenty million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier."

Tony walked toward her, a proud smile on his face. "Unless Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect."

"Well," Bruce chimed in as Tony playfully ruffled Diana's hair, "if he could do that he could achieve heavy ion fusion at any reactor on the planet."

"Finally." Tony gave his daughter's shoulder one last squeeze before moving to Banner. "Someone other than my kid who speaks English."

"Is that what just happened?" Steve mumbled looking around the room for help. Diana put a hand over her mouth to hold back a snicker. The Captain glanced at her and grinned. It was easy to forget how smart Diana was. She wasn't as showy as her father, and usually refrained from speaking about "Kelvin" and "Coulomb barriers".

"It's good to meet you, Doctor Banner." Tony shook Bruce's hand enthusiastically. "Your work on antielectron collisions is unparalleled. Diana," he pointed at the girl making her look over her shoulder at them, "wrote her thesis on your gamma ray experiments."

Diana's eyes went wide before she buried her face in her hands. Her cheeks got hot and her hands started to sweat. Yes, what her father said was true. She'd studied Bruce's work in college and written her thesis on his experiments and the results. She was grateful Tony didn't mention her own theories on why the experiments went so wrong. Or how she ultimately praised the doctor for unlocking something far beyond what any scientist in the field had even been close to at the time.

Lifting her head, Diana saw Bruce giving her a small, sweet smile. Despite the disastrous results of his experiments, she had always admired the doctor. Who would willingly earn seven Ph. D's for fun?

"And," Tony continued, "I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage-monster."

Bruce's smile fell, his jaw clenching. "Thanks."

"Doctor Banner is only here to track the Cube." Fury had made it back to the bridge from the holding cells. "I was hoping you might join him." He nodded to Tony who had already decided he was going to work with Bruce whether Fury liked it or not.

"I would start with that stick of his." Steve suggested. "It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a HYDRA weapon."

Fury stood by the conference table next to Natasha. "I don't know about that, but it is powered by the Cube. And I would like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys."

"Monkeys?" Thor seemed a little concerned, "I do not understand."

"I do!" Steve perked up his seat, pointing excitedly at Fury. He looked at Diana and the others before deflating slightly, realizing he might have gotten a little too excited. "I…understood that reference."

Tony watched his daughter's shoulders shake in silent laughter, watched her cover her mouth to hide her smile. Watched her eyes linger on the Captain and soften. He nearly gagged. Pepper had been right. Why did she always have to be right?

No one saw him roll his eyes, thankfully. Tony looked to Banner. "Shall we play, Doctor?" He wanted to get out of that room as soon as he could. He really, really did not like that his daughter had taken a…shine to the Captain.

Bruce nodded, "This way sir."

* * *

The group dispersed, most returning to tasks or starting new ones. Diana looked at Steve, he seemed a little unsure of what to do or where to go. "Hey," she gently tapped her elbow against his arm, "want some coffee?"

"C-Coffee?" Steve looked around nervously, "Coffee or _coffee_?"

Diana's eyes went wide. "Wait you think I mean…"

"You didn't?" A blush colored his cheeks.

Diana's cheeks blushed right back. She had a difficult time meeting his eyes and found herself looking anywhere but. "I-If you want to we could," she waved her hand around, "find some place less…occupied."

Sweet Jesus what was happening? Diana wanted to scream. She didn't realize Steve was still thinking about the last time they'd been alone. She didn't know that he wanted to _get coffee_ again so soon.

Steve cleared his throat. "Why don't we try to find the mess hall?" He stood up, his hands fumbling from resting on his hips to resting at his sides. "We could," he swallowed a lump in his throat, "get some coffee."

Diana really, _really_ wanted to scream. She stood up slowly, adjusted her suit and started to lead the way. Now the question was should she really lead them to the cafeteria or find a more private setting. There was no doubt in her mind that she wanted to find that private setting first. It was going to take a few hours before her dad and Bruce got a hit. They had time to get coffee and _get_ _coffee_. Diana clenched and unclenched her fists, feeling Steve follow close behind her.

They turned to walk down a long hallway past the research lab Tony and Bruce were currently occupying. Diana prayed that Tony wouldn't see them. She just knew he would do or say something to embarrass her.

Steve must have seen them too. He found himself watching Tony and the doctor converse while they worked. Then he saw Tony pick up a sharp object and shove it into Banner's side. He all but forgot about his "getting coffee" plans. He stopped at the door and yanked it open.

Diana heard Steve let out an authoritative, "Hey!" and turned around to see what had happened. She saw he'd gone inside the lab, confronting her dad about something he had most likely done. Diana didn't want them to fight. Especially when she was starting to have feelings for Steve. And she knew Tony suspected she did as well. He wasn't going to be nice to Steve any time soon.

She followed Steve inside the lab. Tony had been staring intensely into Bruce's eyes, waiting for something to happen. When nothing did he stood back up straight. "Nothing?"

"Are you nuts?" Steve exclaimed feeling Diana join him.

"Jury's out." Tony answered seeing his daughter standing with the Captain. He ignored how oddly comfortable they seemed with each other and looked back to Bruce. "You've really got a lid on it, haven't you? What's your secret? Mellow jazz, bongo drums, huge bag of weed?"

Diana walked up to stand in front of the table Bruce was working at. Tony stood next to the doctor on the other side. "Dad why are you harassing the poor guy?"

"What? Are you the S.H.I.E.L.D H.R. rep now? Toby?" Tony glared at Diana.

Steve didn't understand the reference, but he could recognize the playful tone to Stark's words. He felt his jaw clench, "Is everything a joke to you?"

Tony nodded, "Funny things are."

"Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn't funny." Tony almost rolled his eyes at the Captain again. He held up his hands in mock surrender. Giving Diana a questioning stare. What was it about this guy that made her all…blushy. "No offense, Doc."

"It's alright." Bruce glanced up from his work, "I wouldn't have come aboard if I couldn't handle pointy things."

Tony walked over to his open briefcase. "You're tip-toeing big man. You need to strut." He set down the tool in his hand and grabbed a foil bag. Diana instantly recognized it as their favorite brand of chocolate covered fruit.

"And you need to focus on the problem, Mr. Stark." Steve was beginning to sound like he was reaching the end of his patience with Tony.

"Do you think I'm not?" Tony opened his snack, moving to offer one to Diana. "Why did Fury call us in? Why now? Why not before? What isn't he telling us?" He watched Diana grab a handful of chocolate covered berries before pulling the bag back and grabbing a handful for himself. "I can't do the equation unless I have all the variables."

Steve watched Diana chew on her snack. "You think Fury's hiding something?"

"He's a spy." Tony shrugged like it was obvious. "Captain, he's the spy. His secrets have secrets. Diana knows. Right?"

She stopped mid-chew, all eyes falling to her. "He's my boss, dad. I don't get the privilege of knowing his secrets."

"But you know what S.H.I.E.L.D is up to?" To Steve, it sounded like Tony was interrogating her. Like he didn't completely trust his daughter.

Diana shook her head. "Things work differently here. I'm just a field agent. Everything I've been told is on a need-to-know basis."

Tony held out his arms, "And that doesn't bother you?" When Diana couldn't come up with an answer he turned to Bruce. "It's bugging him too. Isn't it?"

Bruce looked up from his station, now all eyes had fallen to him. He started to crumble under the pressure. "Uh, I just want to finish my work here, and…"

"Doctor?" Steve could tell there was something he wanted to say.

Realizing he'd been basically backed into a corner, Bruce sighed. "A warm light for all mankind." He quoted their prisoner. "Loki's jab at Fury about the Cube."

Steve watched him take off his glasses. "What about it?" Diana had finished her snack, focusing on the doctor to hear what he was going to say.

"I think it was meant for you." Bruce pointed at Tony, to which he answered by rewarding him with a blueberry. Bruce dug through the bag for a snack, "Even if Barton didn't tell Loki about the tower, it was still all over the news."

"The Stark Tower? That big ugly," Steve caught himself, but Tony had heard, "building in New York?"

Tony eyed Rogers carefully, daring him to say something else.

Bruce continued, "It's powered by an arc reactor, a self-sustaining energy source. That building will run itself for, what, a year?"

Tony shrugged. "It's just the prototype. I'm kind of the only name in clean energy right now. That's what he's getting at."

"So," Diana leaned her hip against the table, "you're curious as to why S.H.I.E.L.D didn't bring my dad in on the Tesseract project?"

Bruce nodded. "Yes. I mean, what are they doing in the energy business in the first place?"

"I should probably look into that." Tony added, walking around the table to stand in front of a computer screen. He pulled out his phone, a decryption file in progress. "Once my decryption program breaks into all of S.H.I.E.L.D's secure files."

Diana's eyes widened in disbelief. "Dad! You can't be serious…"

"Jarvis has been running it since I hit the bridge." Diana knew he was trying something, but she didn't realize he would try to break into the _entire_ _system_. He stood in front of her and Steve, "In a few hours, I'll know every dirty secret S.H.I.E.L.D has ever tried to hide. Blueberry?"

Tony held out his bag to Steve, but the Captain didn't accept the "peace offering".

Steve could feel Diana's annoyance. "Yet you're confused about why they didn't want you around."

Tony easily came up with an answer. "An intelligence organization that fears intelligence? Historically, not awesome."

Diana crossed her arms, giving her dad a pointed look. "This is about more than just your inflated ego. There's multiple reasons why S.H.I.E.L.D didn't want you."

"Oh really? What are these "multiple" reasons? I would love to hear them." Tony called her bluff.

"Would you like to me start alphabetically, or chronologically?" Diana glared at her father. There was no true malice behind her words, but there was a dangerous edge to them.

Steve could feel Diana getting more and more frustrated with her father. He held out an arm in front of her, acting as a physical barrier between the Starks. "I think Loki's trying to wind us up. This is a man who means to start a war and if we don't stay focused," he aimed to word to this Starks, "he'll succeed. We have orders. We should follow them."

Tony shrugged, popping a blueberry in his mouth. "Following's not really my style."

"And you're all about style, aren't you?" Steve felt his blood start to boil.

"Of all the people in this room," Tony looked around the lab before landing on Steve, "which one is a, wearing a spangly outfit, and b, not of use?"

Diana was quickly reaching the end of her patience. She felt her jaw clench but opted not to say anything, knowing she could easily go hours back and forth with Tony exchanging sarcastic quips and insults.

"Steve," Bruce's voice was quiet, "tell me none of this smells a little funky to you. And I know you work for them Diana. But even you have to admit this feels…off."

Diana didn't like it. Because she hated to admit that her dad and Bruce were right. She scoffed and walked out of the lab, taking herself out of the conversation before it got too real for her. Of course, they were right. But Diana had been trained to follow orders and not ask questions. Everything at S.H.I.E.L.D was a need-to-know basis. She couldn't understand why her dad just wouldn't accept that.

"Just find the Cube." She heard Steve say before he followed her out.

Diana would have continued to grump down the hall had Steve not caught up to her. "Diana wait." His hand squeezed around her elbow, holding her in place.

"I've been working for S.H.I.E.L.D for almost ten years Steve." She kept her voice low as other agents and crew members passed them by. "Never have I thought to question Fury, ever. I don't think Tony realizes what exactly S.H.I.E.L.D has done for me—for a lot of its people. And he has the nerve to make me question the people that made me who I am?"

"I know, Diana." He pulled her further away from the lab and the gaggle of people moving back and forth. "Questioning my superiors is not something I would ever even dream of."

They turned a corner. The lights were dimmer in this hallway and it was much less busy. Diana let out a sharp breath. "But you have your doubts too." It wasn't a question. It didn't have to be.

Steve let out a sigh, one hand falling to his hip while the other gripped his pounding head. "They had a point." He gestured in the general direction of the lab. "I'll admit it's hard to put my faith in S.H.I.E.L.D completely. Even after everything they've done for me."

Diana's heart sank. Did that also mean her? She was S.H.I.E.L.D to him, wasn't she? And she hadn't told him her biggest secret of all. That she was, ultimately, just like him.

With a groan, Diana let her head fall forward. It landed on his chest, her forehead resting just over his heart. "What should we do?" She asked, her voice muffled.

Steve looked up towards the lab. "How long until your dad's program finishes?"

Diana shrugged. "An hour at least, maybe more. Why?" She still refused to lift her head from Steve's chest. Opting to stay where it was nice and warm then face the cold reality that surrounded her.

"Well." He put his hands on her shoulders, gently pushing her back. "I don't think I can wait that long."

* * *

They found their way in the lower levels of the ship. Avoiding the few security guards that patrolled the area was simple. S.H.I.E.L.D wasn't too concerned about its own people sneaking around its own ship.

"Here." Diana stopped in front of a storage room. It was a secured storage room. Odd, given that there shouldn't be any "secured storage" on a carrier. Diana expected to find weapons and other supplies at best. She didn't think there would be any locked rooms. There must be something in there worth locking down.

She stood in front of the panel, swiping her wrist over its screen. The chip in her arm should have allowed them access. But she got an angry beep and a "level 10 access only" message.

"Level 10?" She glanced back at Steve. "That's command level clearance. Fury is the only person on this ship with that access."

"Looks like we found the right place then." Steve stepped forward, gently pushing Diana to the side.

She watched him grab hold of the heavy steel door at the handle and near the top. "Wait Steve, I think there's something I should tell you."

He grunted, muscles flexing beneath his blue suit as he pulled on the steel door. It was locked down tight. "Does it have to be now?" He grimaced as his fingers began to ache. He struggled with the door for a moment longer before it gave way. The locks broke, and Steve was able to pull the door open.

Diana followed him inside. "I just think that it would be better if you heard it from me instead of someone else. And I know I have horrible timing but, it's been a little crazy today."

Steve was half focused on her. He was honestly more focused on trying to find anything that would prove or disprove how Tony and Bruce feel about S.H.I.E.L.D.

"Whatever it is will have to wait, Diana." Steve mumbled, eyeing a catwalk that was about ten feet from the ground. He looked back at her. "Wait here. I can make the jump but even with your suit you'll have some trouble. I'll find something to help you up."

He didn't give her time to respond. Steve turned and pushed off his legs, soaring up to the catwalk. With a low grunt, Steve gripped the railings and hoisted himself up and over. His feet landed on the metal grating and…

"I don't think this can wait."

Her voice startled him. Steve whipped around and found Diana standing just behind him. Steve looked past her for a ladder or some crates that she must have used to climb up. "How did you…?"

Diana let out a long sigh. "I know this is weird." She took a gentle step towards him, hands held out with her palms facing down. She got in front of him. "And before you get super upset with me, you should know that I really, really like you and I hope this doesn't change anything."

Steve's brow scrunched. "Diana. What are you saying?"

Her hand suddenly shot out, gripping the steel railing next to them. She squeezed, and Steve could hear the steel protesting against her hand. It groaned, and she let out a quiet grunt before the railing suddenly folded with the weight of her hand. Diana pushed out and the railing followed. With wide eyes, Steve was now staring at a severely bent steel bar with distinct indentations of someone's fingers.

"I know I should have told you sooner." Diana let her hand drop back to her side. "But I wasn't sure how to tell you and it was kind of nice having someone look at me and not see Captain America's replacement."

"You're…" Steve's throat was very dry, and he swallowed hard, "Captain America's replacement?"

"So yeah funny story. My grandfather made a serum using your DNA and used it on me before I was born." Diana tried to shrug it off. "Now I'm…kind of strong."

"Kind of?"

Diana shrugged again. "Yeah just a little. I think my thing is more agility related? I mean, obviously there's some strength too. I don't know, I have a theory on the serum and how the effects of it changes depending on the variable i.e. the subject it's used on. But I haven't really been able to test it out because I'm the only known super-soldier alive—well now you too so maybe I could run some tests? Not that you're a test subject…"

He waved his hands around, stopping her from rambling any further. "Okay. Hang on." Steve had to take a step back, seeing her in a different light. "It was given to you before you were born?"

"Yeah." Diana nervously coughed. "I was kind of in my mother's womb when I was injected with it—barely past the first trimester. And without it," her hands came up, fingers fanning out, "I wouldn't even be alive so…"

She trailed off and all Steve could do was stare. When Diana had mentioned a secret, he never expected this. He thought she would confess that she was S.H.I.E.L.D's top assassin or she had never been on a mission before or—something! But never even considered that she was enhanced. Let alone with a super-solider serum engineered from his own blood.

"Right." Diana tried to stay on course and perked up. She gestured to the storage surrounding them. "Now that that's out in the open, why don't we go back to finding dirt on my employer?"

She started to walk around him, but Steve's arm shot out in front of her. "Diana you can't drop something like that and expect me to just accept it."

"No of course not." She stepped back from him, fingers nervously twisting together. "It took my dad a few months to process it but for the most part he seemed fine. It's not that big of a deal Steve."

"Not that big of a deal?" Steve shook his head, shocked. "Diana, you've done nothing but lie to me since I woke up."

"I told you the truth." She tried to defend herself, but Steve wasn't going to listen.

"Yeah, eventually. When it got to a point where you couldn't keep your secret anymore." He scoffed. "What else haven't you told me? How can I trust anything you say now? Diana this is…"

He put his hands to his head, walking in a small circle. "I know it's a lot." Diana tried to reason with him. "But please understand that I wanted—for once—for someone to look at me like a normal person. Everyone who knows just stares at me and they're too afraid to talk to me. It's infuriating."

Memories of walking through HQ and feeling eyes following her every step flooded to the forefront of her mind. Diana continued,

"Not only am I "the Stark heiress" but I've got "super-soldier" plastered on my face too. I've never fit in anywhere and with you it felt…different. So long as you didn't know about the serum thing, you only saw me." And now all you'll ever see is a lab experiment.

Steve's hands fell to his hips. He was speechless. After all this time spent together, he thought they'd formed a friendship based off trust. Steve hated secrets. He hated that S.H.I.E.L.D had nothing but secrets. He thought Diana was different. He thought she trusted him enough to tell him everything. Before when he looked at Diana he could see a friend. Someone he knew he could rely on. Now, all he could see was S.H.I.E.L.D and its layers upon layers of secrets.

"I don't know what you want me to say." His eyes couldn't quite meet hers. "I don't even know what I want me to say."

"Tell me that this doesn't change anything." Diana desperately grabbed his hands. "Tell me that I didn't completely screw up whatever this is between us."

"Diana, I…" He stepped back from her. "I don't know."

That hurt. Diana watched him move away with desperate eyes. She understood why he would feel so betrayed. But she'd hoped Steve would be different. Then again, it was selfish of her to expect people to just accept her with open arms after revealing that she'd been lying to them.

With a shaky breath, Diana nodded at him. "I get it—honestly I get it. It would freak me out too." Her hands came up to swipe at her eyes. She ducked her head, pretending she was just running her fingers over her face. When Diana looked back up, she smiled. "I think you should do this part alone. I'm going to go…help my dad I guess." She jerked a thumb backwards and started to move away. "Let me know if you find anything. I really hope there aren't any more secrets for you to find."

All he could do was watch her. Diana turned and leaped over the railing, landing softly on her feet below. She left the storage room and forced herself not to look back. It took every ounce of control not to. Was he watching her? Had he already turned his back?

What the hell did she just do?

* * *

Her feet carried her back to the lab. Numbly, she walked back in and found a seat next to her dad. Tony Stark had been standing by a terminal, an empty stool waiting next to him. He heard someone sit down and turned, surprised to find his daughter.

Diana slouched in her seat, hands resting in her lap. "You should be happy now."

Tony turned back to his terminal. "Why should I be happy?"

She looked up and saw Bruce try to act like he wasn't listening. At this point she didn't care. She just wanted to talk to her dad. "I told Steve." Tony looked back at her, a question in his eyes. "About my abilities. About…being like him."

Tony paused before sending his work over to Bruce's screen. They shared a look of understanding. Diana needed Tony Stark The Dad right now. Not Tony Stark The Scientist. He turned to face her, arms folding over his chest. "I assume he didn't take the news too well?"

Diana pushed a stray piece of hair behind her ear. "He was shocked. Probably didn't help that I told him after bending a steel bar with my bare hand."

Tony shrugged, "Yeah. Probably should have warned him before you did that."

She sighed, catching her head in her hands. "You were right about the secrets thing. They suck."

"Dads are always right kiddo." Tony couldn't help himself and got a glare in response. "Okay," He took a step and placed his hands on top of Diana's shoulders, "you told him. And now, it's up to Rogers to decide how to handle it."

"But dad, I lied to him for months. I kept it a secret." She gestured around with her hands, "I could have told him at any time and I stupidly chose to tell him at the worst possible time."

"Well," Tony nodded, "you do have poor timing when it comes to sharing secrets."

Diana grimaced and leaned her head forward until it fell against Tony's shoulder. "He's going to have a hard time trusting me again after this."

"Undoubtedly." Tony grinned when she lifted her head back up and glared again. "But, you just need to give him a reason to never doubt your trust ever again. Which means, no more secrets."

She knew he was speaking from experience. And she knew he was right. She hated it when he was right.

Diana looked down, her eyes falling to the arc reactor in her father's chest. A light blush colored her cheeks. "I really like him dad. I know you don't. But he's a really good guy."

Tony felt a twinge of jealousy in the pit of his stomach. He had a hard time letting Diana go. Especially when it involved another man. To him, all he could see was the little girl who would run back and forth through his workshop covered in grease and oil. Who would follow him around relentlessly at events and parties. The same little girl that would fall asleep in his lap while he worked tirelessly on new designs. The same girl that inspired him to be better.

He loved her first. And it would take a lot for anyone to prove that they deserved to be with his only daughter. Tony felt a sigh slip through his lips. "I hate it when Pepper is right."

Diana chuckled at him. "Dad she's always right." Tony grinned down at her, squeezing her shoulders. He felt his chest swell with love. She used to be the only thing that could put a smile on his face. Out of all the inventions he'd ever created, he would never be able to top helping create this perfect girl in front of him. Tony felt a lump form in his throat while his eyes started to burn.

"Alright." He turned away from her, pulling the now blank terminal over to where they stood. "How about, since you're here, you help me crack into the system."

"Dad." She whined, though it was weak. Tony stood next to her, pulling out his phone and moving his decryption program to the screen in front of them. He looked at her, and it only took one look before Diana finally caved. "Fine," she let out a heavy breath, "but if I get fired because of this, you owe me a job."

* * *

 _Once again, I was pulling my hair out over Diana revealing her secret to Steve. I rewrote it a lot and sat on it for days. I hope it came out alright and that I got Steve's reaction as authentic to his character as possible. But Tony was a good dad in the end right? He helped Diana feel a little better, and now he's going to distract her with code breaking lol._

 _Review, fav and follow! Thanks for reading!_


	6. You And I Were Fireworks

_Hello everyone! I'm sorry for keeping you waiting on this update but tbh the last few scenes were nightmares to finish. I think I'm finally starting to get a grasp on Diana and her relationship with Steve but WOW did I have a hard time. However, I finally caught a little inspiration bug and managed to finish it all up! At least this chapter. There's still the rest of the story to write, and possibly some extra stuff after. Definitely a second volume to the Providence saga though!_

 _Ok before we get into this I'd like to do a little self-promotion. If you're interested I have a tumblr page under the same username I have on here, blingblingchristine. There you can get in touch with my through anonymous messages or non anonymous, whichever you prefer. I'll be posting updates to the story on their as well as reblogging a few things related to Providence. So, if you're interested head on over!_

 _Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters...I only own Diana..._

* * *

"I just…I don't know what to think."

Diana was shocked. She felt utterly betrayed. A part of her wanted to believe that this was all a part of some terrible contingency plan. Another part kept screaming that she should have expected this. She didn't know everything about S.H.I.E.L.D and therefore shouldn't be this surprised.

There was a third part that wanted to break every piece of equipment in the lab right that second, but she miraculously restrained herself.

" _Loki means to unleash the Hulk. Keep Banner in the lab_." Natasha's voice in her ear made Diana perk up. " _I'm on my way. Get Howard and send Thor as well_."

Diana looked up at Bruce, eyeing him carefully. He seemed perfectly fine to her. They'd had a great conversation about her thesis a few minutes ago.

"What are you doing, Mr. Stark?" Fury's voice made her grimace. She knew it would only be a matter of time before S.H.I.E.L.D's malware found Tony's virus.

Tony from his perch on the table shrugged. "Uh, kind of been wondering the same thing about you."

Fury gave Diana a hard look before returning his attention to her father. At this point she almost wanted to be fired. This was not something she'd signed up for. "You're supposed to be locating the Tesseract."

"We are." Bruce answered, "The model's locked and we're sweeping for the signature now. When we get a hit, we'll have the location within half a mile." He pointed to an open terminal on the other side of the room. It was sweeping through location after location. They'd finished that hours ago and had been spending the rest of the night digging through S.H.I.E.L.D's files.

"Yeah," Tony shrugged, "then you get your Cube back. No muss, no fuss. What is "Phase 2"?"

A slam made Diana jump. When she looked, she saw Steve. He'd found what he was looking for. Now in the center of the room on a table sat an oversized gun similar to HYDRA weapons Diana had seen in files in the past.

"Phase 2 is S.H.I.E.L.D uses the Cube to make weapons." Steve didn't sound very happy. He looked to the Starks and Bruce. "Sorry, computer was moving a little slow for me." Diana ignored how Steve's eyes softened when they landed on her.

"Director Fury, what the hell is going on?" Diana stood up straight, arms falling to her sides.

"Diana." He tried to placate her and saw the Captain copy her same, angry stance. "Rogers, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract. This does not mean that we're making…"

"I'm sorry, Nick." Tony stood up, moving his terminal screen around to face the Director. "What were you lying?"

Diana's jaw tightened. She saw a blueprint of a missile on the screen. It had a housing chamber for a high-powered nuke fueled by an arc reactor.

"I was wrong, Director. The world hasn't changed a bit." Steve commented, and Diana had to agree. She thought S.H.I.E.L.D was better than this.

Natasha came in then, followed by Thor. "Did you know about this?" Bruce asked the spy. He didn't need to ask Diana, she was just as shocked as him.

"You want to think about removing yourself from this environment, Doctor?" Natasha didn't have time to debate the ethics of S.H.I.E.L.D's activities. She just wanted to get Banner out of the tense lab before things escalated out of control.

"I was in Calcutta. I was pretty well removed."

"Loki is manipulating you." She tried to warn the man, but he wouldn't have it.

"And you've been doing what, exactly?"

Diana could see Bruce getting more aggressive but at this point she was right there with him. Natasha seemed to be getting annoyed. "You didn't come here because I bat my eyelashes at you."

Bruce let out a humorless laugh. "Yes, and I'm not leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy." He pulled off his glasses and grabbed the monitor, pointing at the nuke's blueprint. "I'd like to know why S.H.I.E.L.D is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction."

"Because of him." Fury lifted a hand and pointed an accusatory finger across the room to Thor.

The thunder god looked shocked. "Me?"

"Last year, Earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge match that leveled a small town." He slowly turned to look at Tony, then Diana and finally Steve. "We learned that not only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly—hilariously—outgunned."

"My people want nothing but peace with your planet." Thor tried to defend himself and the people he was representing.

"But you're not the only people out there, are you?" Fury held out his hands as if to gesture to the rest of the universe. "And you're not the only threat. The world's filling up with people who can't be matched, that can't be controlled."

Diana stood next to her father as they continued to argue. "Like you controlled the Cube?" Steve pointed out.

"Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies." Thor tried to calmly explain, though Diana could see him becoming more irritated by the second. "It is a signal to all the realms that the Earth is ready for a higher form of war."

"A higher form?" Steve's brow creased, concern coloring his tone.

Fury continued to debate with Thor, "You forced our hand. We had to come up with something."

"A nuclear deterrent." Tony scoffed, "Because that always calms everything right down."

"Remind me again how you made your fortune, Stark." Fury glared at Tony.

Diana rolled her eyes, "That's a red-herring if I ever heard one."

Steve shrugged. "I'm sure if he still made weapons, Stark would still be neck-deep…"

"Wait, wait." Tony looked at the Captain. "Hold on. How is this now about me?"

"I'm sorry," Steve glared at Tony, "isn't everything?"

"Steve you have no idea what you're talking about." Diana's jaw clenched, her instinct to protect her father from slander coming forward. She moved to stand between Tony and Steve.

"I thought humans were more evolved than this." Thor commented sarcastically, though not without some disapproval.

"Excuse me," Nick crossed his arms, "did we come to your planet and blow stuff up?"

Thor scoffed. "You treat your champions with such mistrust."

"Are you boys really that naive?" Natasha almost laughed, "S.H.I.E.L.D monitors potential threats."

Bruce gave her a confused look. "Captain America's on threat watch?"

"We all are." She answered, like it was obvious.

"Wait, you're on that list?" Tony pointed over to Steve. "Are you above or below angry bees?"

Steve's jaw clenched, his fists tightening. "Stark, so help me God, if you make one more wisecrack…"

"Threat! Verbal threat. I feel threatened." Tony held up his hands in surrender.

"Stop it, both of you." Diana looked back and forth between the two men.

Steve all but ignored her, looking past her shoulder to Tony. "Show some respect."

"Respect what?" Tony challenged, knowing he was aggravating the Captain but not really giving a damn.

The entire group devolved into arguments and back and forths. Diana mostly tried to keep her dad from irritating Steve any more, while a part of her kind of wanted him to keep poking the bear.

Thor rolled his eyes. "You speak of control, yet you court chaos."

"That's his M.O., isn't it?" Bruce's voice made everyone pause momentarily. "I mean, what are we, a team? No, we're a chemical mixture that makes chaos. We're…we're a time bomb."

"You need to step away." Fury recognized Banner's growing agitation. And he recognized that this environment was not helping the doctor stay calm. At all.

Tony shrugged, lifting a hand and casually reaching around Diana to place it on the Captain's shoulder. "Why shouldn't the guy let off a little steam?"

Immediately, Rogers smacked the hand away. "You know damn well why. Back off!"

"Steve." Diana's tone carried a warning. She fully faced him, keeping her dad behind her. Unfortunately for her, she was small. Small enough that both Steve and Tony could still look each other in the eye over her head.

"Oh," Tony stared Rogers down, "I'm starting to want you to make me."

"Dad. Stop it." Diana turned around to Tony now, a hand pushing against his chest.

Steve quietly snickered. "Yeah. Big man in a suit of armor. Take that off, what are you?" He'd moved around to the other side of Tony, making Diana turn and face him. She tried to keep herself between them as much as possible. She really, _really_ didn't want them to start fighting.

Tony refused to look away from the Captain. "Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist."

With a humorless grin, Steve looked around the room before staring down Tony again. "I know guys with none of that worth ten of you." He ignored Diana's hand against his chest, or how she tried to desperately keep him and Tony from getting any closer. "I've seen the footage. The only thing you really fight for is yourself. You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you."

"I think I would just cut the wire." Tony shrugged.

Steve scoffed. "Always a way out. You know, you may not be a threat, but you better stop pretending to be a hero."

"A hero? Like you?" Tony had had enough. "You're a laboratory experiment, Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a bottle." He moved to step closer, and had it not been for Diana standing between them, he'd have been chest to chest with the Captain.

"That's enough! Both of you!" Diana now had both hands held out to either side of her, pushing on the chest of Steve and Tony. Though she felt a twinge of hurt at the "bottle" comment. Is that what Tony thought of her? She was nothing but a lab experiment in his eyes. Her hand faltered on her dad's chest. What else did he think about her abilities?

Steve ignored her, "Put on the suit. Let's got a few rounds."

"Rogers I'm serious. Stop!" Diana was using all her strength to hold him back. Now that he knew she could match him in strength, he didn't hold back.

Thor's laughter broke some of the tension. "You people are so petty…and tiny."

Diana was finding it hard to breath. She saw Tony wipe at his forehead and then rub his eyes. He could feel it too. Something was affecting them.

"Yeah, this is a team." Bruce's voice made everyone turn to him.

"Agent Romanoff, would you escort Doctor Banner to his…"

"Where?" Bruce challenged. "You rented my room."

Nick held out a hand in a placating manner. "That cell was just in case…"

"In case you needed to kill me. But you can't. I know, I tried." Slowly, he started to back up to the stand housing Loki's scepter. "I got low. I didn't see an end. So, I put a bullet in my mouth, and the other guy spit it out. So, I moved on. I focused on helping other people. I was good." He pointed at Natasha. "Until you dragged me back into this freak show and put everyone here at risk. You want to know my secret, Agent Romanoff? You want to know how I stay calm?"

Diana felt Steve move to stand in front of her. She grabbed hold of his arm, and saw Tony move to cover her too. Everyone in the room froze. The tension still there, but now it shifted to focus on one person. And that person was currently becoming a bigger and bigger threat by the second.

"Doctor Banner," Steve's voice broke Banner's anger, "put down the scepter."

Bruce looked down at his hand, shocked to find it gripping the scepter tightly. When did that happen?

The terminal on the far side of the room started alarming. Diana felt an ounce of relief. They had a hit.

Carefully, Bruce put the scepter back down. "Sorry kids, you don't get to see my party trick after all." He moved to the terminal and put on his reading glasses. Natasha was right behind him.

"You located the Tesseract?" Thor asked, eager to know the location.

"I could get there the fastest." Tony volunteered.

Thor shook his head. "The Tesseract belongs on Asgard. No human is a match for it."

Tony started to walk away but Steve wouldn't let him leave. He grabbed Tony's arm, pulling him back. "You're not going alone."

Tony answered by smacking the Captain's hand away. "You're gonna stop me?" He was threatening Steve again, and Diana felt her head begin to pound.

"Dad…" She warned but neither of the men would listen to her.

"Put on the suit, let's find out." Steve egged Tony on, and Tony matched him stride for stride.

"I'm not afraid to hit an old man." They resumed their stare down, Diana resuming her place in between them. Now they were both pushing against her hands and she had a very hard time resisting the urge to shove them both across the room.

"Put on the suit." Steve growled through gritted teeth.

"Steve! Stop!" Diana was fed up with them but she needed to calm one of them down. She knew it would be easier to get through to Steve then Tony. Her father was a master at holding a grudge. Stubborn wasn't even close to describing him.

She put her back to Steve and put both hands against Tony's chest. "Enough! Please!" She felt Steve's hand grab her waist from behind. Whether it was instinctual, or he was preparing to toss her aside, she would never find out.

"Oh, my God…"

Bruce managed to say before everything exploded. Literally. Fire erupted from beneath the lab, sending everyone flying. Diana fell backwards, arms coming up to cover her face. She landed on her side, hard, but felt an arm fall over her protectively.

When she came to, coughing up smoke and dust, she found Tony had fallen on top of her in the chaos. "Dad?"

He sat up, eyes wide. When he saw that she wasn't immediately dying he turned to the Captain. "Put on the suit…?" Steve started to stand, grabbing Diana and pulling her up with him.

"Yeah." Was all Tony said before all three turned and ran. They split off half way, Tony going for the armory and Diana leading Steve to the heart of the damage.

She could hear Maria calling out a status report in her ear. " _External detonation. Number three engine is down._ "

"Number three engine." Diana repeated, coming to a stop in the middle of the hall. Steve stopped with her, waiting to hear where they should go.

" _Somebody's got to get outside and patch that engine!_ "

" _Stark, you copy that?_ " Fury's voice came through the static.

" _I'm on it._ " Tony answered. Diana waved to Steve to follow as they sprinted down the halls.

"This is Agent Howard, I've got Captain Rogers with me and we're headed to engine 3. Going to give as much assistance as we can."

They took off, Diana leading the way past frantic crew members. As they ran she activated her suit feeling the metal unfold over her body. It was pretty obvious which direction they were heading. They just had to follow the destruction as it got to a worse and worse level.

Steve ran up and pulled the steel door open, stepping aside to let three crew members into the safety of the hall. "Get to medical and stay in cover!" Diana called out to them, praying that no one had been seriously injured.

She followed Steve onto a platform, the damage far worse then she could have ever imagined. There was now a massive hole where the previous engine room had been. They were twenty-thousand feet in the air and the winds were ice cold.

"Stark!" Steve called over the massive noise of the wind. "Stark, we're here!"

" _Good_." Tony answered, flying in and stopping by the now still turbine. " _Let's see what we've got._ "

"Dad! The coolant system is probably shot!" Diana figured the turbine had shut down when it was no longer receiving an active flow of coolant.

" _Right, we need to get the superconducting coolant system back online before I can access the rotors and I can work on dislodging the debris._ " He flew to a chunk of debris, starting the tedious task of pulling away any blockage. Tony looked back at Diana and Steve before pointing near where he was currently hovering. " _I need you to get to that engine control panel and tell me which relays are in overload position._ "

Diana knew he meant her. She also knew that an engine control panel like that would probably be in massive overload. It was very likely every relay was overloaded. She looked to Steve. "Let me go first. I'm going to need your help adjusting the relays."

He wanted to argue. To make her stay while he made the dangerous jump across open air to a small platform twenty thousand feet above ground. But he didn't. Steve knew of her abilities now. And he knew if she was anything like him, she'd be able to make it.

Diana took a step back before making a running leap. She threw up her arms, grabbing hold of a protruding steel bar, using her momentum to continue swinging past it. She kicked out and let go, soaring across empty air before landing on the platform.

She stumbled but ultimately caught her balance. Diana turned and waved Steve over watching him repeat her actions, only he was able to stick the landing much better than her. Show off. Diana turned to the panel and slid it open.

" _What's it look like in there kiddo?_ "

Diana bent down to eye level with the relay. "Just as bad as I expected."

" _Well, at least it wasn't unexpected_." Tony commented. " _You remember how to reset one of those things?_ "

She scoffed. "Come on, who are you talking to?" Quickly, she got down on her knees and showed Steve how to reset each power relay. It was easy work, it mostly involved twisting or pressing a specific piece of equipment. But it was tedious. It took all her concentration to get it done as fast as possible.

Thankfully, Steve was a fast learner, and within minutes they had the relay fixed and ready to go.

"Okay," Steve helped Diana push the panel back and close it shut, "the relays are intact. What's our next move?"

" _Even if I clear the rotors, this thing won't re-engage without a jump. I'm going to have to get in there and push._ "

"What?!" Diana basically screamed, "Dad you can't!"

Steve put a steady hand to her arm. "If that thing gets up to speed, you'll get shredded."

" _The stator control unit..._ "

Diana looked around for it. "Yes—it could reverse the polarity long enough to disengage maglev and that could…"

"Speak English!" Steve stopped her, annoyed but wanting to help. Diana forgot that not everyone understands her and Tony's constant tech talk.

Tony paused but didn't say anything smart. Diana felt proud for a moment that he'd been able to hold back a sarcastic quip. " _You see that red lever?_ " Finally, Diana spotted it. " _It will slow the rotors down long enough for me to get out. Stand by it. Wait for my word._ "

Steve found the lever. He held out an arm, wanting to go first. He made the jump easily, turning and holding out a hand for Diana. She wanted to scoff. Even amid all this chaos, he was still going to be a gentleman. Diana, despite what she told herself, liked the show of chivalry. It was rare these days.

She backed up a few steps, locking eyes with Steve before running and pushing off the platform. She flew across the small gap to Steve's waiting arms, falling into him. He easily caught her small form, arms folding around her waist.

Diana looked up at him, there faces far closer than she originally thought. "Thanks Cap."

He had a glint in his eye that told her he wanted to say something. But all Steve did was nod and let her go, moving to stand closer to the stator control.

" _We've got a perimeter breach!_ " Diana heard an agent over the comm channel. " _Hostiles are in S.H.I.E.L.D gear. Call-outs at every junction._ "

"Damnit, Barton." Diana knew it was because of Clint that Loki's men were able to get in. Clint knew the ins and outs of the ship as much as she did. Which means he knew it's weaknesses.

Her and Steve stood by the lever for a minute longer before they caught movement coming onto the platform. They spotted two men in S.H.I.E.L.D gear, guns up and masks on. Diana was about to call out to them but froze when she saw one pull out a grenade.

He pulled back the pin and threw it towards the turbine. Steve acted fast, jumping from his spot and smacking the grenade away mid air. Diana heard it go off behind her but didn't look. Her priority was taking out these men.

She jumped down, seeing Steve come down with her. He fell on top of one of the enemies, fist colliding with his head. Diana leaped, arms grabbing hold of a bar above her and swung her legs back then forward. She kicked the second enemy in the chest, knocking him over, rifle flying out of his hands.

Steve blocked a hit from the first man, grabbing the back of his neck before shooting his knee up and into the guy's stomach. With one more solid hit to the head, Steve tossed the man over his shoulder. They could hear his desperate scream as he began to fall to the earth.

Diana felt Steve move next to her. He bent down to pick up the discarded rifle when suddenly he felt Diana push him back. Diana's arm flew up, the panels of her armor fanning out from her arm acting as a small shield. Tony had obviously implemented some of his own designs into her armor and she wasn't going to complain.

"Go!" Diana called to Steve. He picked up the rifle in one hand, the other grabbing for a piece of fallen debris. He tossed it toward the shooter before jumping back up by the lever. Steve started laying down a volley of covering fire and Diana took her chance. She dropped her arm and leaped, grabbing the railing and swinging onto the platform. Diana lifted her arm again, bending down so Steve could shoot over her. Her armor was more impervious to bullets then Steve's. They might have been super soldiers, but bullets still hurt, a lot.

She looked back at Steve then at the turbine. It was moving but it was moving too slow. Dad would need to build up a lot more speed to get it back online. She just hoped nothing else would go wrong.

As if to answer her fears, Diana heard another distant explosion. Then she heard chatter over her radio. Agents desperately calling out status reports.

" _Engine one is now in shut-down._ "

" _We are in an uncontrolled descent._ "

The ship began to tilt. Faster and faster until Diana had to reach out to hold on to something. She heard Steve yelp behind her and when she looked back, she saw him desperately holding on to a loose line of cable.

"Steve!" Diana screamed, ducking down when she heard bullets fly past her head. She reached for her sidearm, quickly realizing that she'd left her sidearm with her old suit. "Steve, hang on!"

" _Stark, we're losing altitude!_ "

" _Yeah, I noticed_." She heard her dad and Fury over the radio but all she could focus on was trying to keep Steve alive. Diana held up her arm again, trying to use her position and armor to block as many bullets as she could.

Diana saw Steve slowly climb back up the cable. "Come on Rogers!" She felt a pang in her side but ignored it. It must have been a bullet skirting across her armor.

" _Cap, Diana. Hit the lever_." Tony's voice cracked over the radio.

Diana felt the ship level out and reached out her hand for Steve, keeping her arm up to block him.

" _Lever…now!_ " Tony called desperately, his voice turning to static.

The hostile below them popped out, holding his finger on the trigger longer and longer. Diana helped pull Steve up, watched him yank the lever down. She turned and held up both arms creating a bigger shield for them.

Tony suddenly shot out from beneath the turbine, seeing Diana desperately try to shield herself and Rogers from the onslaught of incoming bullets. With the remaining power left in his armor, Tony turned and flew, ramming into the hostile, knocking him out.

Diana dropped her arms, sweat covering her forehead. She sat back, panting but glad to be alive. She turned to Steve, reaching up a hand and placing it on his shoulder. "That wasn't in the S.H.I.E.L.D handbook." She joked, earning a chuckle from Steve.

He stood up, helping her join him. Diana's legs trembled from the adrenaline still surging through her body. It would take another minute or so for her to calm down completely. She joined Steve at the top of the ladder that would take them down to the lower level. Tony had managed to stand up, his helmet hanging loosely in his hands.

"Remind me to never do that again." Tony looked up at them, catching Diana's smile.

She moved toward the ladder. "If this ever happens again I'm…" Diana's legs gave out, and her stomach started to burn.

"Diana what's…" Steve caught her and froze.

Her stomach was on fire. It hurt to breath. It hurt to move. She grabbed at her stomach where the most pain was centered and when she lifted her hand away, she saw red. _Blood._ Diana's eyes went wide, fear starting to fall in their place. "Steve I'm…" Her eyes found Tony's, "Dad?"

She moved again, and it jostled everything. Diana yelped, hands falling to the first thing next to her. It was Steve and he didn't mind her squeezing his arms hard.

"Diana?!" Tony sounded terrified. She'd never heard him sound like that before. "Get a medical team over to engine three. Now!"

Her eyes became heavy. She started to fall into a daze. She wasn't sure what was happening. She vaguely remembered Steve hoisting her over his shoulder and bringing her to the lower level. Tony's desperate, tear-filled eyes filled the space in front of her. An armored hand gripping at her face and pushing the hair off her forehead.

"Diana?" Tony shook her, trying to keep her awake before the medical team arrived. "Diana! Come on, kiddo. You're too stubborn to let a little bullet like that knock you out."

"Stark." Steve was trying to stay calm, though his voice sounded just as desperate as Tony's. "It's a clean hit. Just keep her awake until medical gets here."

"Hey, hey." Tony bent down uncomfortably in his armor. He lightly slapped her cheeks. "Stay with us Grease Monkey." _Grease Monkey_. Diana tried to smile. He hadn't called her that in years.

"Diana." Steve cupped her cheek, "Diana stay awake. I know it's hard, but you have to." She felt his thumb stroke over her skin, it was nice. So nice.

There was a flurry of sounds. Men and women telling them to move aside. Diana tried to reach out her hand for them. "Dad…?" She called out weakly. Was she floating?

"I'm right here baby girl." Tony's voice followed, he sounded like he was running.

Tears started to fall from her eyes. She was suddenly terrified. "Dad I don't want to leave. I don't want to go."

"You'll be fine kiddo. We'll just patch you up."

"Where's Steve?" She was starting to fade. Black began to color the corners of her vision. She could see lights passing over her head. They must be taking her to the med bay. Weakly, Diana called out. "I need Steve…!"

A hand, hot against her cold skin, grabbed hold of her own tightly. She saw Steve's face through her blurred vision. She was so tired. She just wanted to sleep. But he needed to hear this from her. Diana's throat had gone dry and she stubbornly spoke against it. "They need you, more than I do right now."

Steve watched her weakly put a hand out. He grabbed it and pulled it to his cheek, pressing it against his face. God her hands were freezing. " _I_ need you Diana. You'll be back on your feet in no time."

"We need to move her. Captain Rogers help or get out."

She heard someone count down from 3, and then she was being lifted from one place to the other. Diana yelped when her stomach was jostled.

"Get me an IV! Morphine drip, now!"

More tears started to fall from her eyes. Diana looked for Steve again, and as if he could hear her, he was there in an instant. "Don't hate him." She mumbled, wincing when something sharp stuck into her arm. "He just…wants what's best…for me."

Steve put a hand to her sweat covered cheek. "Diana…"

She reached up a hand, managing to touch the tips of her fingers to his chin. "Handsome man. The one I…dream about." Her eyes started to fall, getting heavier and heavier. "I think I could…love yo…"

Steve watched her eyes finally fall shut. Her head fell limp. The morphine had kicked in. Steve stepped back giving the doctors space. Tony had stopped outside the room and when Steve looked up, he saw the man standing there, eyes desperately watching his daughter.

The doctors quickly ushered Steve out of the room and they got to work. Steve turned to watch the surgery commence. They started by cutting open her suit from the waist up. He turned away out of respect, and Tony was grateful for that. As much as it seemed that they liked each other, he was glad Steve had enough deference.

"She'll be alright Tony." Steve's voice was steady, calm.

Tony took in a shaking breath. "I know." He swallowed the lump in his throat, blinking away the tears. "I know it's just…"

The man trailed off, but Steve understood. It was taking every ounce of his willpower not to unleash his anguish on the nearest wall.

After two hours of waiting, the doctors finally came out. Diana would recover, she was lucky it was a clean through and through wound. The caliber of bullet was small enough that it avoided major arteries, organs and bone. However, she would be out of commission for several days.

"She needs rest now. You can visit her in a few hours." The doctor informed them, walking away to tend to other injured patients.

Steve managed to get Tony to the armory where he removed his iron suit. Steve peeled off the outer layer of his uniform, leaving him in a long sleeved blue shirt. They numbly walked to the bridge and sat at the conference table. Thor and Hulk were missing, Natasha was currently helping Barton recover. Coulson had been killed.

All Tony could think about was his daughter's terrified face as she was dragged into the med bay. It made him feel sick.

Fury stood at the end of the conference table. "These were in Phil Coulson's jacket. I guess he never did get you to sign them." He looked to Steve before tossing a stack of Captain America trading cards across the table. They landed in front of Steve, their blood-soaked corners making them stick to the table.

"We're dead in the air up here." Fury continued. "Our communications, the location of the Cube, Banner, Thor, Howard…I got nothing for you. Lost my one good eye." He leaned on his hands on the table top, shaking his head. "Maybe I had that one coming."

He stood back up straight, not caring that either of the men were looking at him. They were going to hear him either way. "Yes, we were going to build an arsenal with the Tesseract." He shrugged, "I never put all my chips on that number though because I was playing something even riskier."

Fury sighed. "There was an idea—Stark knows this—called the Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people to see if they could become something more. To see if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles that we never could. Phil Coulson died believing in that idea. Diana Stark put herself in the line of fire believing in that idea. In heroes."

Tony had heard enough. He shot up from his seat, unable to bring himself to look at anyone. Trembling, Tony walked away, feet carrying him to the medical bay.

"Well," Fury watched Stark disappear around the corner, "it's an old-fashioned notion."

* * *

Tony fell into a trance, numbly walking through the halls of the ship. His mind kept racing from one thought to the next. How did the bullet get through her armor? Must have been a slit in the metal. He would have to modify the armor plating. Maybe add another layer of titanium alloy? Diana would probably hate it though. She liked the lighter design. But she needed to be safe. Hindering her movement speed even a little in order to protect her safety was much more important. Diana could get used to it.

Diana. My little Grease Monkey.

Tony looked up from the floor. He was now in the cell block where Loki had once been. He could feel a light breeze coming up through the now exposed chamber in the center of the room. Tony walked up the steps, eyes staring down at the ground below. He knew there was a blood stain on the wall behind him. It was taunting him out of the corner of his eyes. Just begging him to look at see the spot where Phil Coulson died.

"Was he married?" Tony wasn't sure how long he'd been standing in that spot, watching the clouds and the ground below. But suddenly Steve was in the room. Tony shook himself.

"No. There was a cellist…I think."

"I'm sorry." He heard Steve say. "He seemed like a good man."

Tony scoffed. "He was an idiot."

"Why?" Steve crossed his arms. A part of him was screaming. He'd almost bypassed fowling after Tony and heading for the medical wing instead. But Diana would have wanted to know her father was alright. The least Steve could do for her now, was make sure Tony didn't do anything too rash. "For believing?"

"For taking on Loki alone." Steve picked up on the other man's tone. He thought that was the obvious answer.

"He was doing his job." He saw scorn flash across Tony's eyes.

Tony scoffed. "He was out of his league. He should have waited. He should have…"

Tony trailed off. He knew he sounded like a broken record. He knew going over the "should haves" would only make him spiral. And he did not need to start spiraling right now. He needed to try to keep a level head, especially when his daughter was lying in a hospital bed recovering.

"Sometimes there isn't a way out, Tony."

"Right." Tony almost rolled his eyes. "I've heard that before."

Steve watched him start to leave the room. Probably heading for the hospital wing. He couldn't let Stark just leave like that though. It was obvious the man was still having trouble with the situation.

"Is this the first time you lost a soldier?"

"We are not soldiers." Tony's anger flared for a moment. He caught himself before he stared ranting and raving about why he or his daughter would never, ever be soldiers. Soldiers died. Soldiers went to war. He refused to accept that his child was anything close to that. Tony took in a shaky breath, his anger calming down with it. "I'm not marching to Fury's fife."

"Neither am I." Steve stayed surprisingly calm in the face of Tony's irritation. "He's got the same blood on his hands that Loki does. But right now, we got to put that behind us and get this done. Loki needs a power source. If we can put together a list…"

"He made it personal." Tony had been staring at the blood-stained wall.

Steve shook his head. "That's not the point."

"That is the point." Tony's mind began to race. "That's Loki's point. He hit us right where we live. Why?"

Slowly, Steve began to catch on to Tony's line of thinking. "To tear us apart."

"Yeah, divide and conquer is great but…he knows he has to take us out to win right? That's what he wants. He wants to beat us, he wants to be seen doing it. He wants an audience."

"Right, I caught his act in Stuttgart."

Tony started to pace. "Yeah, that was just previews. This is opening night. And Loki, he's a full-tilt diva, right?" Tony stood back, "He wants flowers, he wants parades. He wants a monument built to the skies with his name plastered…"

He stopped, as if everything suddenly clicked in his head.

"Son of a bitch."

* * *

" _Diana?!"_

" _I don't want to leave. I don't want to go."_

" _Hang in there, Grease Monkey."_

"… _I need you…"_

" _Diana!"_

Her whole body jerked and jumped, rattling her stomach. Diana gasped at the pain, hand instinctively grabbing for the wound. With a groan, Diana sat up just enough to see where she was. Hospital room. Was she still on the helicarrier? She forced herself to sit up more, fingers tangling in the wires sticking out of her arm and looked around.

She was in a hospital gown, her gear placed neatly on a table at the end of her bed. She could hear voices and movement outside of the room, but no one seemed to notice her getting up. Diana pushed herself into a full seated position, hand traveling beneath her hospital gown. She could feel a thick bandage on her right side, most likely covering several fresh stitches. Medial tape and gauze where the only things keep them from breaking.

Where was everyone? What happened to her dad? Or Steve?

With a stubborn grimace, Diana started to twist her legs over the side of the bed. Her bare feet dangled above the floor as she started to rip out the various needles and wires stuck into her arm.

"Diana!"

She looked up.

Steve Rogers walked briskly across the room to her. He didn't have his outer armor layer on, only a long sleeved blue shirt. Diana ignored the fluttering in her chest at the sight of him.

"Help me get up. I need to get back out there." Diana had managed to pull out the wires and monitoring devices attached to her arms. She placed her feet on the cold floor and stood up. And had it not been for Steve, she would have fallen right then.

He easily caught her, her legs giving out from exhaustion beneath her. "What the hell are you doing?" Steve held her up, strong hands gripping her waist and shoulder. "Jesus Diana, you've been shot! What are you thinking?"

Diana tried to pull away from him. But even though she was strong, Steve was much stronger. The most she managed to do was push away from him a few inches. Her hands shoved against his broad chest.

"I'm thinking about finishing what Loki started. I will not be left behind Rogers!"

She weakly tried to fight him off but Steve easily held on. "Diana you can't fight like this…"

"The hell I can!" Her outburst silenced him. They both stopped their struggling and Diana took in a deep breath to calm down her anger. "I can't let you go without me Steve." It was suddenly very hard to look him in the eye. "Even if you don't feel the same—especially after I told you about my enhancements—I can't let you go."

His hand against her shoulder came up to rest against her face. Diana looked up at him, shocked. "You know I've never really been that good at talking to women." His thumb gently stroked across her skin.

"Really? Never would have guessed." She somehow managed to keep a clear head despite her racing heart. Steve snickered before continuing.

"While I was down in that storage room, I thought a lot about what you said…and what I said." He chewed his lip, "I'll be honest I was shocked at first. But when I started to think about it more, I realized that it really doesn't change anything."

Diana's eyes went wide. "Seriously?"

"I mean, it explains why you're able to keep up with me when we train. Most people can't." He shrugged. "And it's not wrong of you to avoid sharing all of your secrets with me. If I were in your position, I probably would have done the same."

Her eyebrow rose up playfully. "Are you telling me you have secrets too Rogers?"

Steve snickered again before his other hand came up. Now he was gently holding her face, staring down at her with soft eyes. "What I'm trying to tell you, Diana, is that I'm sorry if I hurt you. I'm sorry that I didn't understand that you trust me enough now to tell me the whole truth."

She smirked, "I guess I should apologize for freaking you out." Her hands, still pressed against his chest, gently gripped the fabric of his shirt. Diana watched her fingers run over the blue fabric. "And about my dad. I knew he would say something to you."

"He's definitely a Stark." Steve shrugged and they both fell silent. One of his hands gently pushed her hair off her shoulder and away from her face. Diana found herself staring at him, taking in every detail. She counted the freckles scattered across his cheeks and forehead. Admired the length of his eyelashes and the different shades of blue and green in his eyes.

"Steve?" His hand stopped playing with her hair when he felt her begin to tremble. His eyes met hers and she swallowed the lump in her throat. "Is...is it true? I thought I heard the nurses saying that Coulson didn't make it."

It was the shadow that fell across his face that gave it away. Before Steve could nod and say that yes, Coulson really is dead, Diana knew. She didn't immediately burst into tears like she expected. Diana's eyes fell away from Steve's face, staring at nothing as her lips fell into a tight, thin line. She breathed in and out, deep and shaking breaths.

"Loki?"

Again she already knew the answer. But hearing Steve say it out loud only made it feel more real.

"Yes. Coulson tried to stop him from escaping. From what we've been told, he managed to hurt Loki pretty bad before..." Steve tried to think of a better way to say it but he knew Diana would learn the truth sooner or later. He preferred her to know now before she got hold of a report and read to gory details herself.

Steve finished telling her what happened. Loki stabbed Coulson through the heart, and Coulson managed to get one good shot at the god, very likely hurting him more than the god could have ever anticipated.

By the time he was finished, Diana had relaxed completely in his arms. Now instead of pushing away from him, she was against him. Her eyes fell shut as she took in a very deep, quaking breath through her nose. Her forehead fell against his chest over his heart.

"I'm sorry Diana." Steve's arms wrapped around her, hugging her tightly.

"Me too." Her voice sounded thick. He could feel her hands balling into fists. Before he could think twice, Steve bent his head down and placed his lips to the top of her head. There he could breath in the scent of her shampoo. She smelled like lavender and other soaps. It made him think of that night they shared a cup of tea in her apartment. The night he realized he had feelings for her.

Diana gently lifted her head, staring up at him with red-rimmed eyes. "Now I really have to go. I can't stay here Steve. Phil brought me in when I was a kid, I've known him too long to not..."

Her throat started to close up and her eyes started to really sting. "This can't be about revenge, Diana." Steve stroked her hair, "It won't bring Phil back."

"This isn't revenge this is...punishment." She swiped away a stray tear from her cheek. "This is me finishing what Phil started. This is," Diana searched for the right words, "my job."

Steve knew he wasn't going to change her mind. No matter how much he tried to argue, Diana was going to find her way off the ship and to the ground and to Loki. Nothing and no one would be able to stop her.

"Alright." Steve gripped her shoulders and squeezed. "What do you need from me?"

* * *

Diana had managed to find a standard issue suit in her size. Unfortunately the doctors had sliced up her original suit during the operation on her wound. She wasn't upset, just annoyed at the slight inconvenience of it. Steve had half-carried her to the armory while she downed several pills of hydrocodone. Due to her increased metabolism, she required twice the usual dosage for anything to truly work on her. And even then, the pain killers were probably going to wear off in an hour or so. They managed to find her a suit and while Steve went to get his equipment, she found her way to the dormitories and found a private room.

Diana stood in front of the single mirror in the room, adjusting the borrowed suit. It was the deep, navy blue all agents wore. Diana zipped up the suit, bending over to slip on her boots. She adjusted her belt and turned to a mirror. Her makeup had all but disappeared, and her hair had fallen completely out of normal high and tight pony tail she sported.

She lifted her arms to redo her hair but winced. She may be a fast healer, but she was still incredibly sore.

"Need some help?"

Diana looked behind her. Steve had entered the room, and he waited for her permission to come in further. She nodded. "Please." Diana moved to sit on the cot by the wall. "Just don't tell my dad. He can't know."

She felt the bed dip behind her and a pair of hands grab hold of her hair. "What? That you're in more pain than you want anyone to believe?"

Diana grinned at him over her shoulder while she handed him an elastic hair tie. She scoffed. "I knew you would know."

"I've taken a bullet or two before." Steve's fingers combed through her hair. "I know you'll recover fast, but I also know it still hurts like a bear."

Diana felt him lift her hair high to where she'd had it before. He started to tug her new ponytail through the elastic, fumbling at first but quickly figuring out what to do.

"I don't want to be left behind, Steve." He finished, his hands falling away. Diana turned around to face him. "I don't want to be the girl that sits and waits for her loved ones to come home."

Steve had his gloves in his lap. He nervously fiddled with them. "Loved ones huh?"

A blush colored her cheeks. "Well…yeah. I mean, love is a strong word. People I care about?"

"I know what you mean." He found his hand covering hers. Their fingers intertwining. They sat still for a moment and stared at their hands.

"Steve?" Diana called to him gently. When he looked up she was still watching their fingers. Diana continued, "I really am sorry I didn't tell you about my enhancements sooner. I should have trusted you."

"I think I've known for a while." That got Diana to look up at him. Steve shrugged before explaining. "The fact that you can keep up with me in a sparring match should have raised a few red flags."

"I was trying to hold back."

"That was you holding back?" Steve smiled when he saw her chuckle. Her laughter soon ceased, and they resumed watching their hands on the bed. "You know," he spoke softly, "I think I'd like to give this a shot. After we clean up Loki's mess."

Diana found herself leaning toward him. "Even if my dad will probably hate you?" Steve looked up and put a hand to her cheek, stroking his thumb over her light freckles.

"He'll warm up to me…eventually." He leaned forward, their foreheads meeting in the middle. Steve took in a deep breath through his nose. "Promise you won't leave my side."

Diana opened her eyes, feeling his hands start to tremble. "As long as you promise to come back to me when all of this is finished."

"I was," he squeezed her fingers hard, "so scared Diana. I thought you…I thought…"

She stopped his mind from going to any darker places. Gently, Diana tilted her head up, her lips meeting his. This time, their kiss was soft. This time, they let their lips linger against each other, savoring every second. Her hands glided up his chest and to his shoulders where she held him, as if he would move away too son before it was over. Steve's hand fell to the back of her neck where he cradled her head. Their fingers squeezed together between them, the chill of the room no match for the heat building amongst them. Diana tilted her head back and to the side, fitting her mouth to his like a puzzle piece. Her hands moved to hold his face, her thumbs lightly tracing the bone of his square jaw.

Slowly, ever so slowly, his tongue slipped out to meet her bottom lip. Diana answered by opening her mouth to his, tasting his lips with her own tongue, gently nibbling at his soft lips. Too soon it ended. Gently, gradually, they both stopped. As if in mutual understanding, they pulled away from each other, though they kept their noses within centimeters of each other.

Steve planted one more firm kiss to her forehead. Diana closed her eyes, relishing in the moment. The way he smelled, the way he felt. If she had to put it into one word, she'd have to say home. Steve Rogers was Home.

"Okay." Diana let out a long sigh before sitting up straight. It felt strange to have someone so scared for her. Diana wasn't used to having so many people worry over her. She stood up and activated her armor. The metal folded over her and wrapped itself snugly around her stomach. Diana held out her hand to Steve, hoisting him up to a standing position. "What do you say we round up whoever is left and stop this crazy son of a bitch."

* * *

 _Still trying to come up with the right ship name for these two. I'm leaning toward Captain Howard..._

 _Review, fav and follow! Thanks for reading!_


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